Still Not A Hero
by Soleneus
Summary: or Hero 2:Hero Harder I've spent three years preparing for Saren and Sovereign, and now it's time to put the first of my plans into action. All of which involve me, fighting in war. A war against a murderous alien intelligence. A war against impossible odds. A war I put myself right in the middle of...on purpose...I wonder what sanity's like? It must be nice, but it sounds boring.
1. My Vacations Suck

She stood at window, looking out over Earth from space, her fierce yellow eyes focused on a distant point visible only to her as she thought.

Her arms were crossed as she leaned on the wall, absently flicking her cobalt hair out of her face.

She could feel something crawling up her spine. It wasn't something she could name or even think about, but something was coming. Something big.

Zaira Shepard blinked slowly and came back from her thoughts, watching as Earth shrunk and vanished into the blackness of space as the ship she was in pulled away.

Shaking off the odd feeling draped over her shoulders like a mantle of cobwebs, Shepard turned away from the window and began to make her way to the CIC, passing a small rec area, climbing a set of stairs and walking through a door stamped with 'SR-1', she stepped out, gracefully stepping aside as her squad-mate Tara walked by with nod.

She glanced at the large holographic Galaxy Map slowly spinning in the center of the room and traded nods with a balding Engineer and strode past several terminal banks where Alliance personnel tapped away at terminals.

Shepard came to a stop in the cockpit behind the pilot's chair, standing next to a silent Turian and looked on as the pilot's fingers danced across the screen, directing the ship and speaking through the PA. _"All stations, secure for transit."_

The ship rumbled gently in response and a blue light shone through the window. _"Board is green, approach run has begun."_ The pilot announced as they flew ever closer to light, contained inside of a pair of rotating rings that were held in place by two large, pincer-like arms. _"Hitting the relay in three…two…one."_

A cone of energy wrapped around the ship, distorting the view of the stars. The ship lurched, causing Shepard to rock back on her heels.

The pilot went through a systems check as Shepard watched the light dance outside of the cockpit.

"Fifteen hundred is good," The Turian announced simply. "Your Captain will be pleased."

He turned and walked away, and the pilot scoffed quietly. "I hate that guy."

Behind him, Shepard turned an amused look on the pilot and glanced at his co-pilot, her second squad-mate, Kaidan. He rolled his eyes and replied. "Nihlus gave you a compliment…so, you hate him?"

"Hey, you remember to zip up your jumpsuit, _that's_ good." The pilot complained. "I just jumped us half-way across the Galaxy and hit a target the size of pin-head, so that's incredible! Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid."

Kaidan gave him a dry look. "You're paranoid, Joker. The Council helped fund this project, they have the right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."

Joker tapped a few more keys and sighed. "Yeah, that is the 'official' story, but only an idiot believes the official story."

Shepard chimed in with her thoughts. "They don't send Spectres on shakedown runs. I think Joker's right; something's up."

The terminal in front of Joker blinked and he quickly tapped a key, turning on the radio. _"Joker, send Commander Shepard to the comm. room, I need to talk to her."_

Joker said, "Aye, sir," Then leaned out and looked at Shepard. "You heard the man. By the way, Captain, you may want to brace yourself, Nihlus is on his way."

The Captain paused before replying with a dry tone. _"He's already here, Joker."_

Shepard chuckled at the pilot's misfortune and walked back through ship, passing the Galaxy Map and patting Tara, who was chatting with the ship's Doctor, on the shoulder before entering the comm. room to find Nihlus alone inside.

"Ah, Shepard." He greeted, "I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk."

She narrowed her eyes slightly and replied, "Alright. Where's Anderson?"

The Turian Spectre titled his head at the door. "He stepped out for a second. I'm interested in this world we're going to-Eden Prime. I heard it's a beautiful place."

Shepard recalled the pictures of a lush garden world with rolling hills and green grass. "They say it's a paradise." She commented.

Nihlus paced a bit. "Yes…a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Eden Prime has become something of a symbol to your people, hasn't it?"

She nodded, wondering where he was taking the conversation. "Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them." He looked at the screen behind him contemplatively. "But how safe is it, really?"

"Why are asking me this?" Shepard questioned.

The Turian shook his head and turned back to her. "The galaxy is a dangerous place, Shepard. Is humanity truly ready for this?"

Her expression turned hard and she asked, "What is this really about, Nihlus? Because it doesn't seem to be about Eden Prime."

Hearing footsteps coming from behind, Shepard turned on her heel and aimed her yellow gaze on Captain David Anderson, a man she had worked under for most of her career and someone she respected immensely. "You're right about that, Commander. Nihlus, I think it's time to tell her what's really going on."

Nihlus crossed his arms. "This is far more than a simple shakedown run."

Shepard ignored the urge to say, _"No, really?"_ and simply nodded instead.

Anderson turned his eye from Nihlus to the Commander. "We're making a covert pick-up on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems operational."

"What's the payload, Captain?" She asked, mind racing over possibilities.

"A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation." He moved to stand next to the Turian Spectre. "It's Prothean."

Shepard stiffened, eyes widening slightly. "A Prothean Beacon?"

Anderson nodded slowly. "Aye. This big. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring it back to the Citadel for proper study."

Nihlus looked to Shepard. "Obviously, this goes beyond just human interests, Commander. This discovery could affect every species in Council space."

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, still thinking. "Are we expecting trouble?" She asked seriously.

The Turian gave her an equally serious look. "I'm always expecting trouble. As a Spectre, I know nothing is ever as simple as it sounds."

Anderson nodded in agreement. "True enough, but that isn't all, Shepard. Nihlus isn't just here for the beacon. He's also here to evaluate you."

"Why?"

Anderson folded his arms behind his back and joined Nihlus standing near her. "The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council."

Shepard's eyes flicked between him and the Spectre, realization glimmering in her fierce eyes. The Captain nodded slightly. "The Spectres represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far humanity has come."

"Not many could have done what you did on Elysium, Shepard." Nihlus spoke up, a small tone of respect in his voice. "Protecting an entire colony by yourself from slavers. It shows remarkable strength, not just of body and mind, but also character. That, is why I put your name forward as a candidate to join the Spectres."

Shepard nodded firmly. "Just tell me what I have to do." She stated.

"I need to see your skills myself." The Turian returned, "Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together."

"You'll be in charge of the ground team." Anderson said, "Secure the beacon and get it to ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission."

The Commander stood straight and saluted the Captain. "Just give the word, Anderson."

A twitch of what might've been a satisfied smile came to Anderson's lips, but he hid it well. "Good. We should be getting to Eden-"

Joker's voice came over the PA. _"Captain! We've got a problem."_

The Captain frowned. "What's wrong, Joker?"

"_Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!"_

That 'something' danced over Shepard's spine again as Anderson and Nihlus stepped closer to screen to get a better look at the transmission.

[The picture was edged heavily with static, as was the audio, but the sound gunfire was clear.

The view of the transmission was trained on a woman in white and pink armor firing her Assault Rifle at a distant enemy. She turned to look at the person transmitting and sprinted over, pushing them to ground. "Get down!"

The view shook and tumbled as small, blue tinged explosions went off close by.

"Shit!" An oddly familiar voice shouted. "The Colossus is firing again! Hit the dirt!"

The person transmitting dived for the ground, the view turning to a man, despite the gunfire, was wearing a shirt and shorts, jumping out from behind a burning Grizzly and throwing his arms up.

With a sudden flare of orange light, a large Biotic Barrier shot up, a large ball of plasma impacting against the shield in an explosion.

The man dived back into cover and turned to the woman next to him. "We need to take out the armature, or the little ones will overrun us! I need you to distract it for a second."]

The woman looked at him, and though the picture was scratchy, the two humans and the Turian watching the transmission could almost _feel_ the incredulous look she sent him.

["Are you crazy? What the hell can you do, Dewitt? You don't even have a gun!"

Dewitt ducked as an explosion made the burning vehicle lurch into his back. "Yeah, well I don't see your little game of whack-a-geth working either! I can at least help! So do it!"

She looked between him and the white-and-pink armored woman. The white-and-pink lady nodded. "Do it!"

The woman dashed out of cover and started firing wildly while dashing across the pitted ground, diving behind a tree. "Dewitt, whatever you're going to do, do it now!"

Dewitt chuckled a bit and stood up, reaching inside of a pocket and pulling out what looked like a handle. A blue blade shot from the handle, the humming it resonated coming through the speakers.

The person transmitting rolled behind the man, bringing a large, robotic enemy standing on four legs with a long neck topped by a flashlight into view. Multiple smaller enemies with bipedal features took cover next to it.

Dewitt pulled his arm back and hurled the blade through the air. It flipped multiple times before impaling the enemy right through the flashlight, causing it to stagger drunkenly.

The man made a pulling motion with his arm and the blade came zipping into his left hand. He leaped into the air, glowing with orange energy and created an orb in his hand and threw it.

The orb sailed across the distance and impacted into the armature, and the subsequent explosion shook the camera. The cloud of smoke faded, leaving wisps of energy dissipating in the air, along with the enemy collapsing on to the ground bereft of it's front half.

Dewitt cheered and pumped a fist in the air. "Oh yeah, get fucked up!"

The picture cleared as the woman in pink shouted, "What the hell was that?!"

He waved it off. "Later. That should've cleared up the jamming signal."

"Right!" The woman turned to the camera as other soldiers kept firing. "This is Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams of the 212, broadcasting on the emergency channel! Eden Prime is under attack, I repeat, we are under attack by an unknown enemy! They came out of nowhere and we're taking heavy casualties! We need back-up, right now!"

The sound weapons going off stopped as Ashley looked up, over the transmitter, her eyes going wide in shock and fear. The transmitter looked to Dewitt and the other soldiers, all with similar looks on their faces, before they turned and brought…something into view.

It looked a like a giant hand covered in smooth black-purple plating, a miasma surrounding it with what looked like red lightning crackling off of it.]

Shepard tore her attention away from ominous sight to look at the men next to her. Anderson had his brow furrowed in consternation and worry for the soldiers, but his gaze was hard as he glared a hole through the hand-ship.

Nihlus' expression made her want to chuckle, though the situation killed that. He gave off an air of serious stoicism, but his face would be equated to a human with their mouth open and their eyebrows raised.

She turned back to the screen as Dewitt began to talk again. _Could it be him?_ She wondered. The view kept wavering, keeping his face out of shot, but the color of his biotics and the lightsaber he used made it easy to deduce his identity.

["Ash, we need to get back to the Colony and mount a defense!" Dewitt shouted, bringing the camera back on him, a fierce look of rage on his face, before it faded and was replaced by determination. "But we need to stop by my house first."

"This is not time to grab some knick-knacks, Dewitt! You need to get to the Emergency Shelter with the other civilians!" Ashley ordered firmly.

The camera focused on Dewitt's face, his expression turning dead-pan. "Uh, yeah, no. I'm going to my home, my armor and my guns are there, and I can help."

He started jogging down the road, raising a barrier to stop enemy shots from killing him. "Dewitt!" Ashley shouted. "Dewitt, get back here! You ass-"]

The transmission faded into static._ "It cuts out there, Captain."_

Shepard folded her arms, trying to keep a smile from her face, turning to Anderson and seeing much the same. "Well, now we know Saul's there."

Nihlus gained a frown. "Saul Dewitt…that name sounds familiar, though I can't place it."

Anderson rewound the video back a few seconds, stopping Saul Dewitt's face, showing his dual-colored eyes. "Saul Dewitt used to be a Private Investigator on the Citadel, though he seems to have become a colonist recently." He commented with some humor.

The Turian Spectre nodded. "Ah, he was the human who killed Carlo Montague, correct?"

"Yes, he fought through five hundred pirates and stormed their compound by himself and personally executed Montague." Anderson said. "And he was the one who dealt with the Edwards situation."

Shepard frowned and turned a questioning gaze on the Captain. "The Edwards situation? What do you mean?" She asked as Nihlus made noise of recognition.

Anderson debated over whether or not to tell her about it, finally deciding positively. "Kellen Edwards was an entrepreneur who went crazy after being in a Element Zero accident that hospitalized him for five months. According to his notes, he hired a doctor to get him DNA samples from the various species and managed to combine them together into something he called, 'The Perfect Being', and transferred his mind into the body he created."

At her incredulous look, he nodded. "It's all true. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I probably wouldn't believe it either. But that's not all. Saul managed to track him down with a partner and confronted Edwards. He revealed that his plan was to use a suit of custom-made armor, along with the lightsaber and something called the Omni-shield to attack the various governments, kill them and then declare himself Emperor."

Shepard's face could only be read as 'really?'

Anderson nodded again. "During my visit to the Terra system, a call came in from the local police force, who had received a call from Edwards' mansion about a fight going on between two people and some kind of monster. I took a squad with me and we arrived at the mansion in time see Saul cut the head off of who later discovered to be Kellen Edwards."

"That's crazy." Shepard stated, looking off into space with a disturbed look on her face.

"Ahem." Nihlus coughed. "Eden Prime?"

Anderson's previous attitude shifted back into seriousness. "Of course. The mission stays the same, but now we have to deal with an unknown enemy. Shepard, grab Alenko and Crosse and prepare for drop, full combat gear."

Shepard saluted and marched off.

The Captain rewound the video further, stopping it on the mysterious, ominous ship, narrowing his eyes the strange and disconcerting look.

He could feel trouble coming, and that ship, or whatever it was, would be right at the center.

…

…

Well, my day was going fine. Until the Geth and Sovereign showed up, a week earlier than I had prepared for.

I said 'was'.

I nearly got blown up by an Armature (or a Colossus, they look exactly alike) and it was only my quick reflexes that saved my ass from being cooked to a crisp.

Of course, I did manage to get some payback via a long lightsaber throw that went straight through the fucker's flashlight face, followed by a Strike that obliterated it's front half and a good amount of human-sized Geth milling about it's feet.

My eyes fall on Ash, covered in a fine layer of dirt and little dash of ash, glaring at me through the visor of her helmet.

Wait, did she just order me? Not only that, order me to go cower in the Civilian's Shelter?

She must be out of her damn mind. I mean, I know she hasn't all that I'm capable of, but damn, woman, I just blew up a big murderous machine that I'm pretty sure was responsible for killing the rest of your squad in-game.

The guy in the Grizzly was fried and Jacks is bleeding from a shoulder wound and everyone's a little crispy, but otherwise alive.

Though, now that I think about it, I can't really hold knowledge she doesn't have against her.

"Uh, yeah, no." I reply dryly. "I'm going to my home. My armor and my guns are there, I can help."

I twist on my heel and jog off towards my house. There are a few more Geth running around, so I raise a barrier around myself to deflect the bullets.

I can hear Ashley shouting at me before cursing and ordering her men to follow her, followed by the sound of multiple footfalls and gunshots as they run and gun.

The dirt road rests on a sort of long hill, and on either side are rolling hills with trees, grass and small crag-like features filled with water. And there are gas-bags, a peaceful and semi-sentient alien animal that floats over water, dipping their little tentacles in it to feed off of the algae.

There are probably three or four per feature. It must be feeding time.

Opening my omni-tool, I type out a message to Jade, as there are other people nearby and I would look a bit crazy talking to thin air.

_[Can you access the house's systems from here?]_

"_One second…"_ She replies in my head. _"Systems accessed. What do you want me to do?"_

_[Download all the important files and then wipe the terminal.]_ I tap out.

"_On it, download commencing."_

Spotting my pre-fab house coming out, I break out into a dead sprint. The door slides open before I even come into range of the sensors, showing a Geth soldier stepping out.

I don't even slow down, not as Ashley calls out, in fact, I run faster.

The Geth turns his…it's flashlight head on me right as I jump and land a straight kick right to its chest. Its arms fly out and I snag the rifle before landing and turning it on the previous owner.

The rifle spits metal at a furious rate…but this gun feels really stupid in my hands. The bullets are smaller and the gun itself is lighter than Medusa, plus it barely kicks and the sound it makes while shooting.

Literally: _Pewpewpewpewpew._

It's like shooting a toy gun.

The Geth doesn't get back up, what with it's head and upper body all shredded and what not, though I do keep the gun.

I dash into my bedroom to find there aren't more robots inside, but I can hear gunfire outside followed by shouted orders from Ashley.

Better be quick then. I move into my workshop and quickly slide on my Shockgaunts. My armor's open, as I was tinkering with the shield system, which is stored on the inside. I jump at my armor, turning around in mid-air and landing back first in the familiar embrace. It comes to life as Jade takes over the systems, closing and locking the plates into place.

The helmet slides closed with a hiss, indicating that I am sealed inside, and the Jetpack on my back whines softly as it warms up. The pair of wrist-mounted launchers click and shift as I press the button to change the ammunition into Concussion rockets.

Medusa, my Gorgon Assault Rifle goes on my back along with the Geth rifle. Bagger, my heavy pistol made for armor penetration, goes on my right thigh within easy reach. My lightsaber goes on my hip and my knife just behind that, all held in place with magnetic holsters.

"_All systems are operational, Saul."_ Jade reports, sounding satisfied. _"The new shield is up and running and all batteries are at full charge. We are ready for combat."_

I crack my knuckles and do the same to my neck, a smile coming to my face. "Damn right we are."

…

Ashley ducked under a hail of bullets, cursing. "Dammit Dewitt, whatever you're getting, hurry up!"

Faint music could be heard from inside. (H-Blockx-Gazoline)

"Is that…music?" Nirali Bhatia asked, somewhat confused. The Alliance Marines traded confused looks.

The back of the house exploded violently and something raced out of the smoke followed by a heavy crunch as it landed on a red Geth, crushing it underfoot.

The figure stood to it's full height, the music emanating from the round blue pack on it's back, hidden eyes looking at the multiple Geth shooting at, the bullets deflecting off a shield.

The figure crouched and leaped into the air, heading straight towards the largest group of Geth standing together, pointing it's closed fists at them. Four small rockets fired from it's wrists, impacting into the huddle and exploding violently, throwing smoke into the air along with assorted Geth detritus.

The armored man landed, drawing his lightsaber and bisecting a pair of soldiers before hurling it at another, impaling it through the chest. He pivoted, pulling the glowing blade back with a flick of his wrist and pulled the pistol off his thigh, unloading six rounds into a nearby Geth's chest, breaking the shield and sending oil white fluid splashing on the ground.

The last robot, a red Geth wielding a shotgun, ran straight at him in a suicide rush, firing it's gun rapidly.

The man turned again and fired, knocking the shotgun out of the Geth's hands before dashing forward and punching it right in the face.

Electricity arced off of his fist, encasing the Geth and causing it to float away and disintegrate.

He strode up to the gather Alliance Marines, storing away the pistol and lightsaber and equipping a purple and black painted assault rifle.

The helmet hissed and spilt, showing them Saul's grinning face. "So, you said something about going to the Civilians' Shelter?" he asked sarcastically.

…

…

**A/N: Dammit. Dammit.**

***Sigh* It was my intention to post this in a month. Instead….I posted it today. After I finished it. Two days after I finished Hero, I am Not.**

**My fucking muse is refusing to answer my increasingly desperate calls, leaving me to stare at her from outside of her house, my tears lost in the rain that comes down like a typhoon…**

**I should say that my muse lives in my head, so all I'm actually doing is staring deeply into my eyes through my mirror.**

**It's kinda gay. But I am damn handsome man.**

**It's true. My mother says so.**

…

**Okay, anyway, yeah, I'm posting this today instead of next month, so be happy!**

**And some notes:**

**Again, something are going to stolen wholesale from Destiny, pushed through theoretical Mass Effect science then integrated into the story.**

**For instance:**

**Shockgaunts: Titan's 'Storm Fist' Melee.**

**Biotic Artillery Strike, or just 'Strike' (i.e. the technique Saul uses against the Armature): Warlock's 'Nova Bomb' Super Charge.**

**Those and more will be appearing later. I'll list them as they appear. And to answer a frequently asked question: Yes damn it, that is Saul's kid, he doesn't know yet! Stop asking, I made it obvious on purpose!**

**Another thing: No Jenkins, and here's why:**

**In my Fanon-Canon (the way Mass Effect would've gone without Saul) after six months of searching, the Alliance would finally track down Carlo Montague to his base. On the way during Operation: Trident, Shepard's ship get's shot down and everyone gets knocked out, and they get captured by pirates.**

**The pirates execute Tara and Oleg before Shepard and Kaidan are rescued by back-up.**

**And there you have it, the first chapter of 'Still Not A Hero'! I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you back here for more.**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**Stay Awesome.**

**~Soleneus**

**P.S.: I don't know how long this roll will keep on going, but Imma ride it as far as I can! Though I will take a break if it gets too bad.**

**Stay Awesome Some More.**

**~still Soleneus**


	2. Eden Prime, A Great Place to Stay!

The Geth are machines, obviously, made from circuitry and this material that looks a lot like grey muscle with smooth, curved armor. Added with the general shape of the arms and legs, they have a very organic (besides the flashlight heads) look, despite being made of in-organic stuff. They even have blood; this white, oily substance that smells vaguely of paint.

They are also really, really flammable. It's awesome.

I land in the middle of a group of Geth and hover with my jetpack, spinning around twice while firing off my flamethrowers, throwing a spiral of fire around myself.

The conflagration overwhelms their shields and begins to eat away at their bodies, though their reactions are definitely not what an organic would do. Instead of running away or dropping to floor and rolling around, the Geth begin firing at me.

But again, they are on fire and the first burst was aimed right at their optics.

I simply duck under and let them shoot each other, firing a pair of bursts into the surviving robots with Medusa.

Making our way to the colony has been difficult. The volume of Geth troopers is somewhat ridiculous, and thankfully we haven't had any Husks jump at us, which I hope means the Geth haven't gotten their hands on the colonists.

We (me and the 212) had to skedaddle into the trees, off the beaten path because of a blockade on the main road leading into colony. While I think I could clear it out, I'm the only one with a Biotic Barrier and biotics. The Geth guns use phasic rounds, which are coated in a thin electricity-conducting gel that makes shields pop after a few rounds. Added with the high volume of fire a Geth rifle is capable of producing, the other humans would be shredded.

Jogging through the rocky environment, around trees and up hills is somewhat peaceful, despite the columns of smoke rising into the sky in the distance.

But it's quiet.

Too quiet.

A sharp whistle sounds and Stevens cries out, hitting the ground and clutching a bloody shoulder while the sharp retort of a Sniper Rifle echoes.

"Sniper!" Nirali shouted, diving behind a tree.

And now it's too loud. I preferred it when it was quiet.

Jacks pulls Stevens into cover behind a ledge, with Ashley joining them while switching out her Assault Rifle out for a sniper. I move behind a nearby tree and think _'thermal'_. My left eye twitches and suddenly I'm seeing in blues and grays. I turn to look around, closing my real eye in the process as to not confuse the shit out of myself.

"_Um, Saul?" _Jade asks, _"Why are you using thermal?"_

I turn off my external speakers. "The Geth have flashlights for heads. Light produces heat, even if it's just a little bit. It should stand out…"

Speaking off, I can see a small blip of yellow-orange in the distance. It's about twenty meters away and to the left, moving slightly. I think it's scanning for us.

"Ash," I say, turning the speakers back on. "I'm going to step out and draw it's fire. Look for the flash of light."

She frowns. "Saul, electronic scopes don't flash in the sunlight, that's only in video games."

If she could see my face… "Ash, they have fucking flashlights for fucking heads, that's the flash I'm talking about." I whisper quickly.

Ashley blushes a bit. "Right, Geth. Alright, be careful."

"Got it." I reply. "Ready?"

She nods quickly.

I step out and shout, "Hey asshole! Your father was a desk lamp and your mother was a flesh-light!"

I quickly raise a barrier, right in time for a sniper round to impact into it.

A sharp crack echoes as Ashley fires. She stares through the scope for a few more seconds before nodding. "Sniper down."

Nirali quickly runs over to Stevens and Jacks, the latter doing his best to stem the blood-flow pouring from the former's shoulder. The brown-skinned woman withdraws a syringe of medi-gel and injects into the downed Marine before scanning him with her omni-tool. "That shot nicked an artery," She relays worriedly. "I've managed to close the wound, but we need a med-center to deal with it better. But Stevens won't be fighting any more; too much exertion could pull the wound back open."

A light humming starts coming in, and it reminds me of my jetpack. But I'm the only here with a jetpack…drones.

"Drones!" I shout out a warning.

Geth drones buzz through the trees, heading right for us. I take a knee and line up my sights on the first. Medusa barks and the drone falls out of the air, slamming into a tree trunk and giving off an electrical pop.

There are more and I squeeze the trigger, most bursts taking down a drone each with the powerful rounds punching straight through the glowing eye.

Out of the corner of my eye I see shapes moving; turning to look, I watch the last of the 212 taking off. I shoot down the last of the drones and follow.

That was rude, running off without me. I activate my jetpack and fly after them, catching up easily. I land next Ashley as we crest a hill. "That was a dick move." I tell her flatly.

She glances at me briefly. "We have injured and you were handling it."

"Still, dick move."

Topping the hill, we see the colony in full for the first time since the invasion started.

It doesn't look good, let's just say that.

Smoke floats into the air, leaving a low haze over everything. Ashley points deeper into the colony. "The shelter is down there. They're going to need help defending the colonists."

"What about the beacon?" I ask.

Ashley looks at me questioningly, before realization crosses her face. "They're not here for us, they're here for the beacon." She mutters. "We need to secure it."

She turns to Nirali. "Take Jacks and Stevens to the Shelter, it's about five minutes that way. Be careful."

The brown-skinned woman nods and slides down the hill with two men, while Ashley turns to me. "If you're going to order me to go hide with the civilians," I interrupt, seeing her mouth open, "then I'm going to push you down this hill."

"No," She waves it off, "You're coming with me to secure the beacon. I don't trust you, but you're heavily armed and armored, and it's most likely that there are many Geth trying to get the beacon, and I'll need your help."

"Alright," I nod, "Let's go do it."

As we slide down the other side of the hill, I speak to Jade. "Can you keep an eye on those guys?" I ask seriously.

"_I'm hacking into the cameras around the colony, I'll watch over them."_ She replies.

"Good." I follow Ashley as she jogs towards the dig site. We pass by a few houses with locked doors, which makes me think that at least some colonists are holed up inside.

Another group of drones hover into sight, and among the grouping is one that is a colored dark red. A rocket drone.

It fires and Ash yells out, "Rocket!" and dives off the ledge. I hop back as it explodes, throwing a cloud of dirt into the air.

A pair of regular drones split off and follows after her, while I fire off an Overload that fries the red one, sending it to ground. I shoot down the other two and sink a burst into the downed one just to make sure it's down, then jump after Ashley.

I can see her running away from the pair, but my gaze is drawn to a duo of Geth troopers with three colonists, pushing them to these weird machines colored dark purple.

Dragon's Teeth.

Focusing on the nearest robot, I call up my biotics and Charge, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye, the force throwing the Geth into the rock wall with a crunch and stumbling its' friend, who gets a punch to the flashlight and disintegrates in a shower of Arc Energy.

I grab the colonists and shepherd them forward, hearing the chittering of more Geth coming from behind.

Ashley's standing up from her dive-and-shoot and grabs the nearest colonist, pushing him down behind a boulder while pulling her Assault Rifle off of her back.

I scoop the other two civilians up under my arms and jet over the rock, dropping them and retrieving Medusa. I pop out and fire, the first two bursts that shorts-out a Geth's shield, with the follow-up shattering the light and scattering white fluid on the ground.

As I'm about to pull back, a loud crack shatters the air and the other robot drops after its head explodes.

Turning to look at the source, I see a very welcome sight.

With her N7 gleaming on her breast and a sniper in her hands, Zaira Shepard looks every bit like the elite soldier she is. With her is Kaidan and…Tara? What, no Jenkins?

Well, he did die otherwise, so this is an improvement. "Zaira!" I call out happily. "Did you come to join the party?"

I see her smile behind her visor and I go up to meet them with Ashley following. The Gunny salutes sharply and I just nod to Kaidan and Tara. "Can't say I'm not happy to see you guys." I say, "But what are you doing here? Did you get the distress call?"

I know why they're here, but it would be stupid to just reveal that.

Shepard nods sharply. "We were already en route to Eden Prime when we got the call. What are you doing?"

I jerk my head to Ashley, who speaks up. "Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams of the 212, Commander. We're moving to secure the beacon, we believe the Geth are here to steal it. The dig site's just down there."

The Commander looks us over and asks, "How are you? Any injuries?"

"Just a few scrapes and burns." Ashley reports.

"I'm just fuckin' peachy." I relay, actually not sarcastic.

"Alright, what about them?" She points to the crouching colonists.

"They look fine, but we need to find them a place to hide for now." I pull them to their feet. "Follow behind us, and if you hear gunfire, hit the dirt, got it?"

They nod quickly and I turn to Shepard. "Ready when you are."

We move down the hill, passing by the dead Geth, and I reach out and tap Tara on the shoulder. "You okay?"

She blinks at me and nods. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was surprised by the sudden appearance of the Geth, but I dived behind cover when I saw a couple of drones bearing down on me the first time. Why?"

I shrug. "No reason."

Tara gives me a searching look but lets it be. As I expected, there's no beacon sitting in the dig site. Ashley voices her confusion, though I ignore that to ask Jade something. "Jade, did the others get to the shelter?"

"_Just now, Saul. It looks like the Geth aren't attacking deeper into colony."_ She reports.

"Right, because they're going to set bombs that'll wipe the colony off the planet…" Why would they kill all of the rest when the bombs will do that for them? "By the way, how good are you at defusing bombs?"

"_If it's electronic, I can hack it."_ Jade says confidently.

"Good."

I turn my speakers back on in time to hear Shepard say, "Alright, let's move on."

Moving up the path, the Commander pauses and puts a hand to her ear, obviously listening to someone on the comms. Nihlus must be reaching the spaceport.

Which reminds me…_X-ray._ A wave seems to emanate from my eye, coloring the world dark grey and showing me the every living being as a walking skeleton. Focusing my vision through the hill in front of us, I can make out two Turians, one with a dark arm…Saren.

"Jade, calculate distance and arc," I whisper, reaching over to break off a chunk of rock from an outcrop.

A line appears on my visor, reaching up into the air before curving down some ways away. Lining myself up, I step back tilt back and hurl the rock into the air.

I restore normal vision and join back up with the squad as they reach the camp, a few buildings torn down and on fire, with more Dragon's Teeth…these ones with victims.

"Oh god," Kaidan breathes, "What did they do to them?"

The Teeth shift and withdraw, dislodging three Husks, who push off and land on their feet…

Fuck that! I flick Medusa to automatic and take aim, holding the trigger down. The powerful rounds rip through the glowing cybernetic bodies and the first two drop like rag dolls. As I switch to the last, the combined fire of Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan pulps it.

Right, more than just me here.

…

Nihlus dropped behind a crate, readying his shotgun and prepared to fire it into the back of the person nearby.

He popped up, moving forward, and stopped when he recognized the profile of the person before him. "Saren? What are you doing here?"

The bare-faced Turian Spectre smiled and patted Nihlus on the shoulder. "The Council thought you could use some help on this one, old friend."

Confusion crossed Nihlus' face. "The Council? How did they know about this?"

Saren circled around him, keeping within range of his shield. "Oh, they believed there would be trouble and I asked to be sent."

Nihlus narrowed his eyes, fingering his shotgun. That didn't make any sense. How would the Council know about a sudden attack by an enemy never seen before?

Saren leveled his pistol at the back of his old student's head, talon tightening on the trigger…

When a rock came hurtling from the sky, smashing into his arm, throwing his aim off, the round bouncing off of Nihlus' shoulder, completely missing the other Turian's head.

Nihlus jerked from a mix of surprise and the impact of the round, turning it into a dive that he came out of firing his shotgun at Saren.

The cluster of pellets deflected off Saren's shield and the bare-faced Turian rolled away, firing multiple shots at the cover Nihlus had taken. "Kill him!" He ordered the arriving group of Geth.

Nihlus leaned out of his cover and fired at Saren's back. The treacherous Spectre turned and glared at his former student murderously before running off, leaving the other Turian to his fate.

"That son of a bitch!" Nihlus cursed to himself as rounds impacted his cover. "Shepard, I've encountered another Spectre at the spaceport! He's commanding the Geth!"

…

As that message plays over the radio, I feel satisfaction. And relief. I could've totally missed with that rock and Nihlus would be dead, but I didn't, so yay.

Plus, this should make Tevos happy. Maybe I can get some 'thank you' sex out of it?

Shepard and the others are talking to some doctor lady and her crazy assistant; I, on the other hand, am cracking open every crate I can find and taking the stuff inside, whether it be armor, weapons or mods for both. None of it is used to replace my stuff; I spent close to a million credits buying and modding Bagger, and about half the same just modding Medusa. Tela got it from a black market dealer who was smuggling high-end weapons off of the Citadel, despite the strict regulation on buying and selling.

Though there are better weapons, she's a reliable gun at close and mid-range.

Most of the armor is broken down into omni-gel; can't ever have too much programmable semi-liquid matter, after all. Plus, I'll need it for a gun I've been designing…or helping to design, though it's still missing a certain element.

And most of the guns go into goo as well, though I keep one or two choice pieces in reserve if I want to switch them out with someone else. Better equipment means better chances of surviving.

The rest of the squad joins me on the crest of the hill overlooking the spaceport, the three colonists hiding with the doctor, just in time to watch Sovereign lift off.

Gods, that thing is way creepier in person. The hull is a weird, scintillating black and dark purple, and the whole thing just gives off a constant wave of wrongness and terror; something akin to being a rabbit with grizzly bear looking down at you.

It scares me. I won't lie about that. But all it does, is add fuel to my fire. The fear grips me, but I channel it into anger.

How dare that giant hand/ship/cuttlefish son of a skiff scare me? I'll rip it's fucking fingers off one-by-one!

That anger is consumed, refined and turned into pure energy, and I'm ready to kick some more ass.

As we start down the hill, gunfire echoes off the rock walls, and looking closely, I can see a Turian figure in black and red armor hiding behind a crate while six Geth fire at him, occasionally popping up to fire off a shotgun.

The corpses of four other robots, all within twenty feet of Nihlus, just shows how good he is with that thing.

Shepard and Tara draw their snipers in tandem, and the cobalt-haired Commander says, "Move down, we'll provide over-watch!" Having said that, she squeezes off a shot, reducing a Geth's head into a mess of circuitry and oil.

Ashley, Kaidan and I move down the hill, four Husks moaning and shambling at us. Kaidan quickly jerks a pair of them into the air with a Lift and we fill them with bullets until the cybernetics dim.

One lurches forward at me, arms out. I punch it right in face, Shockgaunts causing it to float away and disintegrate. The other gets close to Ashley, who pulls out an omni-blade and stabs it through the glowing heart, throwing it down and unloading a burst into its head.

Moving down, a sniper cracks again and another Geth drops without a head and a squeal of electronics. Nihlus looks up at us, quickly scanning over us before nodding once and leaning out, blasting a hole in a Geth thirty feet away…with a shotgun.

I leave my questions behind for now and move to support, launching in Overload at a trooper, causing it spasm and setting Ashley up for a finishing burst to the chest.

The last two drop from a pair of sniper shots, and after checking to make sure the area is clear, Nihlus stands up and approaches us. "Thanks for the back-up, though I must ask: who are you two?" He greets, gesturing to me and Ashley.

"Ashley Williams, 212." The Gunny replies, somewhat stiffly.

"Saul Dewitt."

He nods and looks to Shepard and Tara as they join us. "Nihlus, you said something about another Spectre?" She asks straight off.

The Turian sighs and shakes his head. "Yes, he commanded the Geth to attack me. If he did that, it's likely he also brought them here."

"Who was it?" Shepard questions.

"Saren Arterius, my mentor in the Spectres." He says, sounding tired. "He tried to shoot me in the back, but this," He kicked a chunk of rock nearby, "hit his arm and threw off his aim. Lucky it did, too, otherwise I'd be dead."

Ha. Something moves behind a stack of crates, causing everyone to point their guns at it. "Come out with your hands up, slowly!" Nihlus orders sternly.

A guy in workers' clothes and a beanie steps out, hands raised and shaking. "I'm human!"

And I've lost interest in this conversation. I step around a fire to get to a box and crack that bitch open, grabbing a pistol and a mod that both get goo'ed and stored, then come back as…Poe? Or something points at the tram and tells us the Geth and Saren took off with the beacon.

And then our squad of six move out as more Geth come up the ramp. They're dealt with pretty quickly, but there are more on the path to the tram, including one of the red, shotgun using fuckers.

That Geth fires off a Carnage round and we take cover. Or to be more precise, I jump out of the way and tag it with an Overload while Nihlus dives over the shot, coming up from his roll and launching his own charged shot at the Destroyer, blowing to pieces.

I move down the path and notice a pair of troopers in cover next to a can of coolant. Switching my left launcher to Concussive shots, I sink a burst into the container and it explodes, freezing the pair of troopers. A pair of Concussive shots shatter both.

The last Geth falls and we get on the tram, setting it for the spaceport proper. Shepard nudges my shoulder and gestures to my wrists. "What do you have there?" She asks curiously.

I hold up my arm and show her the six-inch barrel integrated into the forearm plating. "Wrist-mounted launchers. I built them myself. It can fire Concussive Shots, Concussion Missiles and can turn into a flamethrower." I tell her proudly.

"Whoa, really?" Shepard breathes, a familiar gleam in her eyes.

And by 'familiar', I mean it's a gleam I know and see in my own eyes every time I use my launchers: The gleam of excitement from a combined gadget-and-explosion fan.

"Concussion Missiles?" She questions in excitement.

"I combined a CS module and an Incinerate program together. The result is a rocket that uses combined kinetic force and explosive force to deal damage. Plus, I don't have to carry a rocket launcher, freeing up weight and space I could use for another weapon." I explain easily, obviously leaving out Jade's involvement…though I should clue Shepard in to her existence at least. I know that Anderson knows, he read Kellen's notes, but he made no mention of it.

"I want one." Shepard states firmly.

I can't help the chuckle that bubbles up. "I'll see what I can do, but no promises."

As the tram pulls into the station, Kaidan looks down at his omni-tool. "Shepard, I'm getting multiple signatures…bombs."

Nihlus growls softly. "Saren must be planting them to wipe out the colony, hide the evidence of his treachery."

"Where are the signatures coming from?" Shepard asks, gripping her assault rifle.

"One is just in front of us," He relays as we pull in. "One above us to left and right and another two farther down."

"I'll take care of the ones on the right!" I say, jetting up onto the walkway above us.

Three Geth are waiting, one fiddling with the bomb. I'd rather not blow us to smithereens, so I clamp Medusa on my back and draw my lightsaber, the blue blade snapping to life in my hand.

I cut my jetpack and fall, bringing my blade down and cutting a robot in half, length-wise, then bringing it up again and cutting the top off of the other before slashing down, separating the last Geth from its head and arms.

"You defusing?" I ask Jade, watching for more Geth.

"_One sec…done."_ She replies quickly.

"Damn, woman. That took all of three seconds!"

"_Well,"_ Jade says smugly, _"I am an advanced Artificial Intelligence. Disconnecting a simple timer is far too easy for someone of my talents."_

"Talented, smart and beautiful." I return with a sly smile.

The warm tingle on the back of my skull is a sure sign of her embarrassment, like a blush I can feel. That, and Jade sputters like someone who got a surprise mouthful of peanut butter.

I head towards the other bomb, switching my lightsaber to my left hand in a reverse-grip and drawing Bagger with my right. Three shots pop a Geth's shield, followed by three more to the body. Two in the chest, one in head, makes everything dead.

Except zombies. Then it's just a head shot. Or hey, a flamethrower!

The Husk flies over the railing and falls to the ground trailing fire like a pitiful comet, and I slide next to the bomb, letting Jade do her thing.

Shepard and the others have already defused two other bombs and were moving on to the last, when I heard Ashley call out, "Big Geth!"

Turning, I see the squad scattering as big ass Geth, easily eight or nine feet tall, stomps toward them.

I pull my arm back and hurl my lightsaber at the big bitch, the blue blade ignoring the shields and stabbing through its left shoulder, making it drop the big gun in it's hands.

Wrapping myself in biotics, I focus on the Prime and Charge forward, slamming into it at high velocity, hard enough to send a human flying…

And it's about as effective as farting on a Krogan.

The Prime stumbles back maybe half a step, but the computer don't care, reaching out and seizing me by the face.

And you know what? I didn't like it when Kellen did it, and I sure as hell don't like it now!

"Not again, asshole!" I grab my lightsaber and rip it out of the Prime's shoulder and slash it down on the arm holding me up. I hit the ground with the arm and slice through the nearest knee, spinning around behind it and cutting off the other leg, following through with spin and divesting it of the other arm, even though it's useless.

But I seriously don't like being picked up.

I move and drive my lightsaber through the chest before pulling it out and slashing off the flashlight head and the two big antennas on its back.

The limbless body hits the ground heavily and I kick it for good measure, because fuck Geth.

I look to the squad and receive a few surprised and questioning looks. "What?" I ask, "I don't like being picked up."

Shepard gives me a dry look and simply states: "Understatement."

Kaidan rushes over to last bomb and has it defused in ten seconds. "All signals down, Commander." He reports.

"Good, let's secure the Beacon."

We move into the final area, a small balcony overlooking a large cargo area with the beacon sitting pretty, all glowing and what-not, just in the middle of the bay. Along with three Geth and three Husks.

Shepard opens fire on the Geth while I head down the ramp, kicking one Husk into a wall with a crunch and bisecting the other with slash. As I move to kill the last, its head explodes into a cloud of blue blood and cybernetics.

Looking back, I see Nihlus giving me the Turian equivalent of a raised eyebrow. "Save some for the rest of us." He says dryly, before hefting his shotgun and blowing away the last Geth…at thirty feet. Again.

"Okay, seriously, why do you have such good range with that thing?" I ask incredulously as we walk down to the beacon.

The Turian Spectre taps the barrel of the weapon as Ashley moves to the railing and voices her unhappiness with field of red-hot glass. "Smart Choke in the barrel, penetrating mods and a good eye for distance." He replies, "Plus, Mass Acceleration makes forty to fifty feet a viable range, with a bit of a drop."

Nice. I look over at the beacon, just as it sends out a wave of energy, latching on to Ashley and pulling her in. Shepard jumps forward and grabs her around the waist, throwing her bodily away and getting pulled into the air, hanging there and twitching like a puppet, groans of pain coming through clenched teeth.

"Don't!" I hold my hand out to the others warningly. "We don't know what could happen if more of us get caught."

I wait nervously for about ten seconds before the beacon explodes. I dash forward, ignoring the pained grunt from behind me, and catch Zaira before she hits the ground.

Looking at her, there are some burns and a little shrapnel from the beacon, but the biggest worry is the way her eyes jerk under her eyelids and she's sweating like a Batarian in a human prison.

"Nihlus!" I here Kaidan call out worriedly. Looking back, I balk.

Nihlus lays on the ground, a bit of the beacon-shrapnel sticking out of his head. Ah, shit.

Tara rushes over and scans him before sighing in relief and easily pulling the bit of metal out of his head. "He's just unconscious, the metal didn't even penetrate his skull."

"Shepard's down too." I inform her. "Doesn't look like she's nothing more than a little crispy, but she's unconscious."

Kaidan nodded and put a hand to his ear. "_Normandy,_ this is Lieutenant Alenko. Shepard and Nihlus are down, I repeat, Shepard and Nihlus are injured. We need extraction."

I look back down at Shepard, pulling her helmet off and brushing her sweaty blue bangs out of her face. Sorry Zaira, but I literally couldn't let anyone else have this responsibility.

I'll explain it to someday, hopefully soon.

…Though I can't deny, I do enjoy having her in my arms, about as much, or maybe a little more than other ladies.

Then again, I have gone a little more than a month without sex.

…

…

**A/N: So…forty reviews for the first chapter…a chapter all of 4,412 words long…okay then.**

**To be honest, the response from the first chapter is, frankly, fuckin' ridiculous. But also awesome. And it's mostly positive, too.**

**Fucking sweet, man.**

**Alright, A/N: So, here's the second chapter of Still Not a Hero, and I feel the need to warn everybody:**

**I don't pick the M rating for nothing. I don't write "Teen" M-rated stories, where the worst thing that happens is swearing and some light dismemberment.**

**Nope.**

**Cursing, Sex and Violence will be prevalent. I am an adult, I write adult content, not just smut or action porn, but adult shit.**

**People who have followed my stories for awhile should know this, and all the new people should as well.**

**Plus, I have music going almost constantly while I write, so most of it is done to sick guitar solos.**

**Today's offering is Heavyweight, by Infected Mushroom, a song which is about half sick guitar solos.**

**That being said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've decided to up the word count a bit to 4k words a chap, except for important chapters and this one, which ran a little long. Much like Hero, I am Not and the 3k chapters there.**

**This is due to the fact that Mass Effect is fuggin massive, and I'm going to be covering a good, giant-ass chunk of it, and if I did it all in 3k word chapters, I'd end up with like, eighty chapters.**

**Anyway, Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**Stay Awesome.**

**~Soleneus**

**P.S.: If as many people reviewed as they did fav and follow, I'd have over two hundred reviews. Which is still ridiculous, but hey, I've got no problem with it.**

**Also, I'm not the only guy who doesn't like gender-benders, right? Nothing against ladies, but I don't like reading from their viewpoint. I'm a man, my understanding of the female mind will always be, "Women are complicated."**

**Slightly hypocritical, as I don't mind writing and reading a story where side characters are turned into girls if it suits me, but just not the main character.**

**Meh, what're you gonna do?**

**Stay Awesome Some More.**

**~still Soleneus**


	3. Just a Lotta Talking And an Explosion

You know, the _Normandy_ really is quiet. Compared to the _Ardat_ and the _Kilimanjaro_, I can just barely hear the quiet purring of the Tantalus Drive Core.

It's not a bad thing, just kind of odd to be expecting noise and not getting any.

Anderson is sitting at his desk after picking Ashley, myself and the squad up from Eden Prime with both Shepard and Nihlus in the med-bay, sleeping off a mind-fucking and a concussion, respectively.

I finish my description of the events with the beacon and go quiet as the Captain taps it out on his terminal. "And that's all of it?" He asks probingly.

I nod once. "Yup. That's it." I pause, wondering if I should bring it up. I will. Anderson's a good man, he'll hear me out. "Would it be better to say in your report that Nihlus died?"

He stops typing and turns in his chair to look at me. "Where are you taking this?"

I lean against the window and cross my arms. "Well, the beacon was important, and I don't doubt the Council will want to bring this up. And with naming Saren in the report as the leader behind the attack, he'll show up as well. If we report Nihlus as dead, Saren will inevitably say something we can use against him. Let him build his pole and then we hoist him by his own retardation, or however that saying goes."

Anderson smirks in amusement. "Petard."

"Bless you."

"In that case, we'd be lying to officials; not just any officials, but the Council and the Alliance brass. I can name at least three laws that would be breaking, and I rather not get fined, go to prison or be executed for treason." He points out evenly.

"True, but Nihlus is a Spectre, if he ordered it or did the report himself he could lie without repercussion." I bring up. Especially since Tevos would understand completely. And would probably prefer it, now that I think about it. Ever since she found out, she's been quietly digging into Saren's past to see just how many 'accidents' or innocent deaths he laid at the feet of others, including Anderson.

Tevos would love to see him get taken down a notch. And I'll record killing him for her too, that would probably be good for some celebration sex.

…I need to get laid, I've been thinking about sex too much.

Anderson thinks it over before shaking his head. "This is a conversation that Nihlus and Zaira should be involved in."

"True." I agree, stepping away from the window. "Is that all you needed?"

"Hold on a second." He slides open a desk drawer, pulls out an unassuming chit and hands it to me. "This for you. When we went through Kellen's things, we found a new program for omni-tools that Kellen had developed, called the 'Omni-Shield'. Seeing as how you are personally responsible for killing Kellen, I got you a copy of the program."

My omni-tool downloads the program, and I'm pleasantly surprised. I didn't think Anderson would do this. "Uh, thanks." I get out slowly. Definitely sending a copy of this to Tevos.

He nods and makes to walk out of the door. "Hey Anderson!" I call, "Why haven't you said anything about her?"

Anderson gives me a confused look. "Her?"

Computer, right. "My AI. Jade."

Realization crosses his face. "Ah. Well, that's difficult to say, really. There's something about you, Saul, that makes me want to trust you. I haven't seen anything that tells me different. And you don't look like you want to wipe out every organic, so I figure you have it under control."

"Her." I state. "Her name is Jade."

He acquiesces easily. "Her. I reported her destroyed, per regulations when finding illegal AI. I imagine she'll be very helpful in the coming times, but I am trusting you to keep her in line."

I nod. "I understand, Anderson."

He smiles kindly. "I know you do. Whatever trouble is coming, you'll be right in the middle of it, I can feel that. And with Saren as your enemy, you'll need all the help you can get."

True enough. He steps out to do Captain-y stuff and I walk into the rec area to find Tara, Kaidan and Ashley chatting over trays of…food?

"What in the hell are you guys eating?" I interrupt.

Kaidan pokes the lump of grey stuff with a fork. "Meatloaf."

"No, no, no. 'Meatloaf' has to have two things: Actual meat, and actually edible! That looks like someone squirted some omni-gel on the tray and called it food." I rant a little bit.

By the amused looks the Alliance personnel are giving me, they are used to seeing civilians react that way to their…_food_. Nutritious it may be, but delicious it is certainly not.

"How long until we get to the Citadel?" I ask, swiping an apple and sitting down next to Ashley.

"Fourteen hours." Tara replies, cutting off a portion of her "meatloaf" and sticking it in her mouth with a blank face.

"Great." I realize, just now, that I've never actually looked at Tara without her armor on.

Like most women I've met, she's very pretty. Dark blonde hair, light green eyes, a smooth face with a small scar on her left cheek. Yeah, pretty good looking.

Speaking of pretty ladies, I turn to look at Ashley. Why is she here? Not that I mind. "Ash, why are you here?" I ask bluntly.

Her face falls a bit and she pokes her "meatloaf" with her fork. "The commander of the 2nd division sent a transfer form to Captain Anderson a couple of hours ago." Ashley says morosely.

What? "Why?" I question incredulously.

She drops her fork and huffs in irritation. "Cardin was the commander's brother and he blames me for his death."

Cardin? Ash looks at me and sees the look on my face and clarifies. "He was driving the Grizzly when it exploded."

Ah. Well, that asshole's loss is our gain. "What about you?" She asks, "Why are you here?"

I've been planning for this for three years, which is why I bought a pre-fab house. "Well, I did kind of blow up my house and I've friends I want to visit on the Citadel. Plus, you know, the whole getting 'attacked by Geth' thing. I am a witness, much like yourself."

She nods and goes back to her food. "So…" I say, tapping my fingers on the table. "What is there to do on this ship?"

Tara and Kaidan trade glances and shrug. "It's an Alliance ship, there's not much besides cleaning, maintaining your weapons and talking, though I do get a spin as co-pilot when Joker's sleeping." He replies.

Well, that's boring. "Alright, I'm going to the cockpit to chat with the pilot." I tell them and head up the stairs into the CIC.

I pass by the Galaxy Map, a large floating and slowly spinning hologram of the galaxy. It's pretty bad-ass, I'd imagine standing over it and looking down on the ship must make you feel like a warlord.

Pressly gives me a suspicious look but I avoid him entirely and make my way to the cockpit. I'll deal with the old one later. Now for the brittle one.

I walk up behind Joker's seat and wait for him to realize I'm behind him. He taps out several commands in the intervening time.

…

Fuck it, I'm speaking. "Yo."

Joker jumps violently, and I'm pretty sure that if he had a drink, it would be flying into the air. "Jesus!" He yells in surprise. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

I arch an eyebrow at him. "I've been standing here for, like, five minutes, guy."

He lets out a breath and sits back in his chair. "Just, wear a bell or something…whoever you are."

"Saul. You are?" I ask.

"Well, everybody calls me Joker."

"Do you call yourself Joker?"

Joker gives me a dry look. "I'm part of 'everybody', aren't I?"

I shoot the same look back. "I don't know, are you?"

We fall silent awkwardly as he presses a few buttons. "So, uh, why are you up here?" he questions.

"I'm bored." I say bluntly. "Thought I'd see what you're doing up here."

"Well, occasionally, a button flashes. And then I press that button." He states, pushing a flashing button. "See, like that. And that's about it."

I hum. "Hey, you look kinda familiar. Do you know a guy called Wash?"

Joker glances up at me and stares. "Wishy-washy? Pilot like me?"

"Yeah. Flies on ship shaped like a duck."

He nods. "Yup, that's my cousin. Disappointed my aunt real bad when he decided to pilot for some merchant instead of going into the Alliance like me."

"Hm. Interesting."

"Yeah."

"…This is kind of awkward."

"Yup."

"I'm gonna go."

"Alright, see you later. Maybe."

I wave to him and trot off to find something else to fill my time. I think I'll have some luck.

…

…

Nope. Nothing at all, to do. I have never been so bored. I think I might just start banging my head against a wall to have something to do.

Or I could fiddle with my guns.

Yeah, I'm going to that.

I hop on the elevator and ride that slow SOB down to the cargo area, which takes about five minutes for some reason. Stepping out, I can see Tara messing around with the Mako and Kaidan fiddling with his pistol.

I stride to the weapon table, grabbing Bagger out of the locker I was provided with and set it down near Kaidan. "Hey. Whatcha doing?" I ask, separating the pistol into a few chunks to work on the wiring. The trigger was a little sticky last time.

He holds up a weapon mod. "Warp Mod. Supposed to be able to add Warp damage to every bullet, though only Biotics can use it. It uses our biotics for energy."

"Interesting." I say. "Lift someone into the air and pop a few shots in them and watch the detonation. Sounds useful."

"That's what I'm hoping for." He nods, tinkering with mod slot in his pistol.

"Can I scan it, make my own?"

Kaidan gives me a questioning look but slides it over. "I don't think we have the material to make one, but sure, you can scan it."

I pull out my omni-tool and start scanning the module. "What do you mean? If you have a spare gun or two lying around there's enough material for five mods, if you're building them yourself."

"What, really?" He asks incredulously.

I nod and start up my micro-fabricator. "Yeah dude, it's called 'Omni-gel' for a reason, not just because you can shape it with an omni-tool."

As I say that, the hard plastic case is finished. "When it comes to things like metal, it needs a template to work off of and a little more time." The circuitry finishes up and I place it inside as the generator gets made next. When that's done, I attach the wires, put it all in the case, close the case and seal it with a little heat.

"And there you go, replication complete." I announce, showing the mod to Kaidan.

"Wow," he picks it up and examines it from all angles. "It really is a perfect copy. I didn't know you could do that with omni-gel."

"Yeah," I take it back and pull out the armor penetration mod from Bagger and slide the new one home. "It's mind-boggling how many people ignore omni-gel, despite the fact it can do just about anything."

I fit Bagger back together and make sure it's all connected correctly. "Alright, so how am I supposed to charge it?" I ask Kaidan.

"Channel your biotics into your gun, slowly. A light haze around the barrel means it's activated." He explains, putting his pistol together and demonstrating. A blue glow slowly creeps up his arm and into the gun, and what looks like light blue steam wafts off the barrel.

"Gotcha." I raise Bagger and start channeling my biotics down my arm. The chaotic orange glow crawls over my flesh, reaching my gun and sinking in.

Then it starts to rattle in my hand. That can't be good. "Uh oh."

And then it explodes, just as Kaidan dives for the ground.

A wave of force washes over me and I feel my back hit the ground, my right arm and part of my chest feeling mighty stiff all of a sudden. I'm dazed, my heels hitting the ground and a haze of smoke in the air.

"Oww…" I vocalize quietly. Even if it doesn't hurt, it still feels really uncomfortable.

"Saul? You alright?" I hear Tara call, seeing her hands waving away the smoke.

"Yeah," I wheeze out. "That could've gone better."

I sit up and look down at my chest, seeing a piece of shrapnel sticking out of my chest. It seems to have gotten stuck in my rib, which is good. I reach up and pull it out, dropping it to floor and feel my face, picking out a few splinters. Thank gods it didn't take out my other eye. One cybernetic organ is good enough for me.

I raise my right arm up and sigh. Melted plastic coats the palm and shrapnel sticks out all along my forearm. Son of a bitch. There goes the first gun I ever bought.

"Well, you're obviously not alright." Tara states dryly, seeing me sitting on the ground with wounds all over my arm.

"Is Kaidan okay?" I ask.

"Yup, just a few burns." He replies, standing up and brushing himself off.

The elevator clangs and hisses as Anderson steps out. "What happened here?" He asks commandingly.

"Tried to activate a Warp mod in my gun." I relay. "It didn't like the taste of my biotics and blew my gun up in my face."

He looks at me, then at Kaidan, who nods. "Alright, let's get you to the med bay."

…

Although I don't feel it, seeing the melted plastic get peeled off of my hand is not a sight I want to see again anytime soon.

"Onboard for less than a day, and already visiting my bay," Chakwas mutters, shaking her head. "I hope this won't be a common thing."

I nod stiffly, the medi-gel soaked bandages around my face, arm and hand feeling rather scratchy. "Me too."

She huffs and points her chin at the bed I'm sitting on. "Lie down and get some sleep, I'll need to monitor you for another hour or so, in case you have internal bleeding."

I nod and stiffly turn on the bed, lying down between the bed holding Nihlus and the other with Shepard. "How are they doing?"

"Nihlus is fine, he woke up about an hour ago and is just sleeping off the concussion." Chakwas replies, looking over her terminal. "As for Shepard, nothing seems wrong, but her brainwaves are fluctuating quickly, like she's in deep REM sleep."

"Huh." I reach out and pat the sleeping Zaira's arm.

"She'll be fine, but you won't be if you don't sleep." She chides, glancing over at me.

"You're not my real mom!" I say back jokingly before setting my head down and letting sleep take me.

…

"…Fine, just a little sore with a migraine." Zaira must be awake.

"That's good." And there's Anderson.

"Your eyes were flickering as you slept, indicative of deep dreaming. Did you see anything while you were asleep?" Chakwas with her questions.

"I had…visions…nightmares. It looked like machines slaughtering organics, but I can't really tell. It's all blurry and disjointed." Shepard responded, sounding distant.

"No one really understands Prothean technology." Nihlus states. "But this could be important. Without clarity or understanding, whatever that beacon did to you can't be used to prove or disprove anything."

"Speaking of, I was talking to Saul earlier, and he had an interesting idea." Anderson says.

That's probably my cue. I sit up and scrub the sleep out of my eyes. "Yeah, I was thinking we report Nihlus as having died against the Geth."

The Turian Spectre frowns and looks up, thinking hard, while Shepard looks to me questioningly. "Why?"

"Well it could provide a knock-out punch against Saren. If we get him suspended and on probation, gather some more evidence against him and then present it and bring Nihlus in as a witness, it could get him kicked out of the Spectres and made a wanted man." I explain.

"That seems a little egregious, gathering even more evidence when we already have proof of him attacking Eden Prime." She points out.

Well I can't I want to do this because it would allow us to pick up Wrex, Garrus and Tali. I have both selfish and unselfish reasons for wanting them on board: Wrex is a badass biotic Krogan Battlemaster, who has skill and the experience of hundreds of years of fighting to back it up. Garrus is a good sniper, a smart guy, good with vehicles tactical thinking. Tali is smart, determined to prove herself and skilled, but only lacking a bit in experience.

Plus she's really cute.

How am I going to convince them that this is the right course of action?

"Saul's idea is good," Nihlus speaks up, "Saren is arrogant and he hates humans, but he's smart as well. I will admit that I also want to see him get his legs cut out from under him."

Thank you, Nihlus! I knew saving you would pay off! As much as I don't like manipulating people, I know this will pay off.

"Alright, then it's decided." Anderson says firmly. "I'll go finish off my report. We'll be arriving at the Citadel within the hour, so be ready to face the Council."

"And the Ambassadors." I add.

The Captain and the Turian left to finish the report while Chakwas started peeling the bandages off of me. Zaira just watches me with thinking eyes, and as the doc finishes up and walks away, she speaks.

"Why are you here?"

"Pfft, please, Shepard." I wave it off. "Ominous ships? Geth? Treacherous Spectres? Mysterious visions from a hardly-understood race? You think I'd not come along?"

Her lips quirk into a small smile. "I told you to call me Zaira. And what makes you think I'd let you come with?"

I give her a dry look and she caves, chuckling. "I'm not going anywhere, Zaira. Whatever's coming, I'll be right here."

"You'd better not be in my bay!" Chakwas calls, causing us to laugh.

I stand from my bed at the same time as Zaira does and hold out my hand. "Ready and willing, Commander Shepard."

She takes my hand and shakes it, fierce yellow eyes meeting my mismatched green and blue. "Glad to have you aboard, Saul."

We pause mid-shake, staring at each other, and I can't help but marvel at the feel of her hand. Her skin is soft but calloused, smooth and scarred but with strength to her grip that I find mighty appealing.

And we're still staring at each other.

She blinks, and the moment is lost, our hands separating. "Well, I better go see the others and get some food." Zaira says, looking away and brushing her bangs away from her face.

"You really call that food?" I reply.

She chuckles a bit and strides out of the room. "See you later."

"Yeah." Yeah. There wasn't any sexual tension there, none at all, whatsoever.

I need to take my mind off of this. I still have that Geth assault rifle to look into.

…

Huh, I just remembered, as I broke the rifle open to play with it's insides, that the Geth were the first to use thermal clips as opposed to the wired heatsink common these days. Sabotaging the gun to make it overheat could be solved within a second, just pop the bitch out and you're good.

However, the clips themselves aren't all that hardy and can only be used once, which, to me is a massive oversight. Basically unlimited ammo is better than limited but slightly more powerful shots.

The best thing would be to find a middle ground between the two. If you're in the middle of a firefight and need to drop the heat quick, pop out the clip and keep going. If the firefight ends or you have time, let it cool.

But anyways, the clip is interesting to me for another reason. I scanned it multiple times with multiple programs and took pictures, sending it off to my contact on the Citadel.

This could be the missing piece for the gun I've been working on.

"_Coming out of the Relay. We'll be arriving at the Citadel in five."_ Joker announces over the PA.

Sweet. I set the rifle parts down and head into the elevator, riding it up to the Common Area and then jog up the stairs to the CIC and head into the cockpit.

The _Normandy_ jerks slightly as we come out of the Relay, the windows filling with purple light from the Nebulae surrounding the Citadel.

I hear gasps of amazement from the squad as they look upon it for the first time. "Wow!" Ashley says, "Look at that ship!"

The _Destiny Ascension_ floats by, massive frame and smooth curves that just say "Asari".

Joker grumbles about and I point at it. "Look at that hole in the middle. You could fly the _Normandy_ through it."

My omni-tool chimes and I open it up, seeing a message from Jade.

_[Jade:_

_Just arrived through the Relay, and am docking now. Please come pick me up, this is really uncomfortable.]_

_[Saul:_

_We're just now docking. I'll come get you.]_

As I go to close it, another message pops up, this time from my contact.

_[Ilo:_

_This is just what I needed! Give me three hours and I'll your package ready.]_

Awesome. The clamps descend on the _Normandy_, locking her in place, and I go and get my armor on, leaving off Medusa and keeping my lightsaber and knife. Generally C-Sec doesn't like fully armed and armored people running around, it tends to cause a panic.

"I'll meet you at the Ambassador's office." I say to them, getting a nod in return before I fly off to meet the _Ardat_ in the docks.

Jade and I tried to see if we could be separated, and used the _Ardat_ to experiment. Jade took control of the ship while I flew on the _Normandy_, and it seems to be working so far.

As I land next to my ship, an electric tingle races up my spine to rest in the back of my head.

"_Oh, thank you!"_ Jade moans out, kind of erotically. _"That was really weird and uncomfortable; it's so much better in your head."_

I sincerely doubt anyone else would say that, except perhaps Tevos and…Benezia. Still don't know what I'm going to do about the latter.

"I'll take that as a compliment." I say and head into the elevator, riding it up into C-Sec and calling a sky-car to the Human Embassy.

I hop out and trek up to the Ambassador's Office, or one of them at least. They must be meeting in Udina's room.

I step inside to see the squad, minus Nihlus, standing near two other humans. One is a male with a lined face and white hair.

The other is a woman. She has delicate features, platinum blonde hair and cold blue eyes, wearing an off-white dress that exposes a good amount of her pale skin.

"Udina," I greet tersely before turning to the woman and nodding respectfully. "Madame DeuPrie, good to see you again."

The woman smiles a very cold, but pleasant smile. "Mr. Dewitt, a pleasure to see you as well."

I stand with the squad as Shepard and Anderson talk to the Ambassadors. "You know the Ambassadors?" Tara asks out of the corner of her mouth.

"Yeah," I whisper back. "Madame DeuPrie thought someone was out to assassinate her, so she hired me to guard her. I ended up saving her life from a Cerberus assassin."

Not to mention what she did in thanks, but I don't kiss and tell.

…Mostly.

"The Council is convening," DeuPrie says stiffly. "We should make our way to the Chambers now."

I hang back and let Udina and the squad go ahead, and I can see DeuPrie has as well. As we fall in, I split my helmet and give the female ambassador as smile. "Keeping Udina in line, Madame?"

She glares at me playfully, a far cry from her usual chilling looks. "Indeed, and as I keep telling you, call me Gabi."

We trot down the Presidium, headed for the Council Chambers, admiring the sights and sounds of bureaucracy at work, and step into the elevator.

Next stop, the Council and Saren.

…

…

…

**A/N: And that's where I'm ending it. I did say about 4k words, right? Right.**

**Notes:**

**Madame Gabrielle DeuPrie: Her last name is supposed to be French, but I'm not, nor am I good at the language. She's an original character who has come onto the scene during the time-skip in Hero, which I might eventually write as it's own separate fic. Maybe. Not even halfway through the series, let's not get any funny ideas now. Meant to balance out Udina's shouty and general bitchiness.**

**SaulxZaira: Just sexual tension for now...For now.**

**I'll not be telling what the pairings are beside one freebie: Garrus and Chloe.**

**Ha!**

**Again, Saul is a man-whore. Speaking of, there's sex next chapter, so be warned. Or get psyched, just don't tell me if you find it arousing, I don't want to know. At all. Ever.**

**How will you know when the sex is? When people start having sex.**

**I play Destiny on the PS3, but not all that often, I got stuff to do, and it's at my sister's house. Plus no headsets. Same name. If you want to party up in a couple of weeks, have fun talking to someone who can't talk back, but is pretty good with a shotgun, especially with the Smart Choke.**

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**Stay Awesome.**

**~Soleneus**

**Go Hawks**

**P.S.: I'm in talks with someone, getting advice on publishing an original work, and I have characters and a story already in mind, just needs to be cobbled together. So, if my muse shoots off on the Original Stuff, I'll let you know.**

**Though, my muse is a fickle bitch, so you might see me update this instead.**

**Stay Awesome Some More.**

**~still Soleneus**


	4. The Council and a New Weapon

"I just need more time!" I hear the familiar flanging voice of Garrus say. "I know there's more to it, I just need more time to get through all the red tape. Stall them!"

The Executor gives Garrus an exasperated and irritated look. "Stall the Council? Are you out of your mind, Vakarian? Your investigation is over." He declares firmly before walking off.

Garrus sighs and lightly bangs his head against a railing around a fountain. "Hey, ass-face, you done bitchin'?" I call out, ignoring the consternated looks from the other humans.

Garrus stiffens before whirling around and marching up to me. "You!" He shouts angrily, "How dare you show your face to me? After what you've done?"

I step up and get in his face. "I'm wearing a helmet, you fucking idiot!"

"It's a figure of speech!"

"You're just saying that to compensate for your lack of foresight into this matter!"

He steps back, looking wounded. "That was uncalled for." Garrus says softly.

I split my helmet and pat his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

He nods before throwing my arm off. "Not as sorry as you're going be once I finish breaking off your arms you mis-matched, short-haired son of a bitch!"

I push my forehead against his and shout in his face. "Really? How are you going to break off my arms after I shove my foot so far up your ass I can use you as another shoe?!"

"I would make a fine boot, if I do say so myself! And how will you shove your foot up my ass after I rip your legs off and use them as stilts?!" He yells right back.

"Do you even know what stilts are, you stiff-backed chicken?!"

"I don't know why you think that's an insult, CHICKEN IS DELICIOUS!"

I open my mouth to continue our little game, but the last thing Garrus shouts suddenly hits me. "Wait, what?"

The Turian detective scratches his fringe in embarrassment. "It's been awhile, okay? It was the first thing that came to mind."

I let out chuckle. "'I would make a fine boot'. Really, Garrus?"

He laughs. "Yeah, you said the shoe thing and made me think of the case with the Skinner."

"Oh yeah, the Krogan who made leather out Turian skin." That was not a fun case. "So, how've you been, Garrus? How's Chloe?"

Garrus frowns briefly. "I've been doing fine, except for this case. I've been trying to dig into Saren's files, but as a Spectre there so much red tape wrapped around it you could use it beacon." Then he smiles. "And Chloe and I have been going good, I actually have something I want to talk to you about. You want to meet at the Flux later, catch up?"

I slap my hand into his and shake it. "Damn right, are you going to invite Nelon?"

He nods sharply. "Yup. Alright, I gotta go, need to close up this stupid case and call Chloe."

"Alright." I wave to him as he walks to the elevator. "We're gonna go accuse Saren of treason."

Garrus stops and looks back at us, then shakes his head. "Hopefully you have better luck than me. See you later."

"Later, man." I turn back to the group to find a myriad of confused and amused looks directed my way. This seems like it might be a regular thing. "What? He's an old friend from my PI days."

Gabi shakes her head with small smile gracefully ascends the steps while Zaira nudges me in the side. "What was with all the insults?" She asks quietly, as we move through the Atrium.

"Oh, just fuckin' around." I reply simply.

We walk up the steps leading to the Council and the first thing anyone sees is a huge-ass hologram of Saren looming over the proceedings like a giant. And I don't like that.

I move behind Shepard and open up my omni-tool, directing a hack at the holo-tank's systems, with Jade assisting as the meeting starts up.

In seconds, the hologram shrinks to a little bigger than a regular Turian, big enough to be seen from everywhere but not all huge and what not.

"_I resent these accusations."_ Saren says disdainfully, not even noticing the change. _"Nihlus was a dear friend. And is the speculation of one cowardly, shell-shocked human really worth anything?"_

Anderson steps forward. "The Geth have a very distinct profile, and the fact that the worker in question identified you by name is very concerning, as is your well-documented hate of humans."

Saren narrows his eyes, mandibles parting in a Turian sneer. _"Ah yes, Anderson. It figures you would be here."_

"Where were you when the attack occurred, Spectre Saren?" Gabi asked coldly.

"_I don't answer to you,_ Ambassador_."_ His tone when saying her title makes it seem like an insult.

Tevos glares lightly at the holo-tank. "But you do to us, Saren. Where you were when the attack on Eden Prime occurred?"

Saren looks shocked by her questioning of him. _"I was in the Baharik System, dealing with pirate attack on the Turian colony there."_

Going for the sympathy angle, huh? "Do you have proof that you were there?" Tevos asks, still glaring.

Saren shifts slightly. "_I can have the report ready by tomorrow."_ He replies stiffly.

Tevos looks to the rest of the Council and they convene for a few minutes, the Turian Councilor looking outraged. Finally, they come back. "It is the decision of this Council that we require more evidence of wrong-doing before making a final judgment. Saren, as you are still on trial, your Spectre status is suspended pending the final verdict."

"_What?!"_ Saren shouts angrily. _"You call this justice?"_

You're on trial for attack a colony, bitch. The fact that you're not even facing us in person is only more telling.

"You have a day to gather your evidence." Tevos directs at us. "This session is now over."

She makes eye contact with me and subtly nods to her office. I wink back and step away as the holo-tank flickers off.

Anderson starts talking to Shepard, probably saying something about Barla Von and Harkin, so interrupt quickly. "Hey, I gotta deal with something important, shoot a me a meeting place if you find something important."

Shepard nods and turns back to the Captain as I step away and head towards Tevos' office. As I reach the door, it slides open, admitting the form of a Quarian in a familiar blue and black suit.

"Kaia."

She looks up from her datapad and I can see her eyes widen behind her visor. "Saul." She says warmly, stepping up and wrapping her arms around me. "I've missed you."

I hug her back, enjoying the warmth. "Me too."

We hold on to one another for a little while longer before separating. "So," Kaia stars, clearing her throat. "I assume you're here to see Tevos?"

I nod. "Yup. Though, I won't lie, I was hoping to see you as well."

She blushes and looks away, fiddling with her datapad. "I…I haven't come to a decision yet." Kaia admits sadly. "I've been so busy lately, with my people becoming a client race of the Council and the pressure the Admiralty Board is putting on me to push us forward…"

"Hey," I reach out and pull her into my arms. "Don't worry about it, alright? I know what you're going through, I don't mind waiting if that's what you want to do. Just focus on the important stuff for now, okay?"

Kaia pulls away, frowning. "But you are important to me."

"I know, but I can wait, I don't think your Admirals will." I say ruefully.

She nods and sighs, reaching up and grabbing my neck, standing on her toes to press our foreheads together. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" She whispers, before separating us and walking away quickly.

"If you ever want to talk, you have my number." I walk through the doors to see Tevos sitting at her terminal, tapping away at the keyboard.

"Mr. Dewitt, please have a seat, I'll be with you soon." She says neutrally, pointing towards a chair in front of her desk.

I sit and wait for a few seconds as she types in a few last sentences and pushes her chair away, standing and circling her desk. "Please, stand."

I push myself up and stand before her, face carefully blank. She stares seriously at me before a joyful smile curls her lips and she jumps at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing lips together.

I quickly open my mouth and meet her tongue half-way, tangling and dancing with it as my hands run up her back, my left settling on the small of her back and my right cupping the back of her head, pushing us together.

We part, panting a little, her fingers tugging on my collar. "Lose the armor," She whispers into my ear, her teeth fastening on my earlobe.

My armor hisses and I step back, pulling the plates away and stepping out of it, clad in a loose pair of pants and a tank-top. I move forward and kiss her again, grabbing her by the thighs and lifting her up onto her desk. She reaches back and unzips part of her dress, shrugging off the top and pulling it away, allowing her bare breasts into the air.

I leave her lips and descend on her neck, lightly nipping her blue skin and trailing down to her chest where I kiss and lick a nipple while my other hand cups and massages the other.

Suddenly, a hand grabs onto my hair and pulls me up into a fierce lip-lock. Separating, Tevos pants out, "No foreplay. I need you."

I reach down and grab the hem of her dress and she lifts her butt up so I can bunch it around her waist, and I see the damp pair of light blue underwear clinging to her nether lips.

As I pull down my pants, Tevos snaps the strings of her panties, tossing them away carelessly and sitting back on her elbows, licking her lips as I get my length free.

I step up and thrust forward, plunging deeply into her center and she moans erotically, eyes closing slowly.

"Oh yes," She groans, biting her lip. "It's been too long."

It has been too long. A hot, wet vice that seems to be pulling me in. I've missed this with her.

I pump slowly, letting the sound of her voice wash through my ears and the heat of our connection builds slowly. Her hands around my neck; fingernails digging into my flesh; legs wrapped around my waist as I spear into her. It's like nothing else.

"Faster…" I hear her gasp out between breaths.

I oblige and the slap of skin meeting skin joins her chorus of pants and moans filling the air. She tightens around me, my body responding to hers and Tevos nearly screams before I cover her mouth with my own.

Her juice drips as I paint her insides and we slump on her desk, panting.

"Goddess…" Tevos mumbles happily.

"Let's not wait six months to do this again, yeah?" I whisper to her, pecking her lips.

She responds by pushing me away, disconnecting us and spinning around, presenting her fine rear and dripping nether lips. "Who says we're done?" Tevos says sultrily, beckoning me with a finger.

My hands settle on her hips as I sink back into her and start at a good pace. I admit that I enjoy sex in most positions, from behind included. But the part I like the most is watching their faces. With their cheeks flushed, lips swollen and gasping, eyes glazed and sweating, I don't think there is any baser form of beauty.

I can feel the coil tightening inside my body. And even it seems quick, a glance at the clock on her desk tells me we been at it for nearly an hour.

I lean forward, pressing my chest into her back, hands sliding up her torso to cup and play with her breasts, lips seeking the sides of her neck.

"Come on," Tevos whimpers, "Give it to me. I want to feel you dripping down my legs, I want to smell your scent for hours."

Well, that's hot.

The coil snaps and I release inside of her. Tevos moans and orgasms, a fresh batch of liquid soaking my groin.

As it fades, I sit still, simply enjoying the warmth in my arms. Eventually, Tevos pushes back and stands up, turning around and pressing her lips to mine. "I have a meeting in ten minutes." She whispers, hand stroking my face. "Come visit me soon, please?"

I kiss her softly and step back. "I will."

She reaches under desk and grabs a few cleaning cloths, wiping herself down, though avoiding her crotch and I clean myself off. "You're serious about the whole 'dripping down your legs' part?" I ask, slightly surprised.

Tevos smirks sexily, pulling her dress back up and straightening it out. "Of course." He smile fades to a look of concern and she reaches up, cupping my face and kissing me passionately, which I return as best as I can.

"Stay safe, my love," she whispers softly. "Come back to me."

"I will. I promise." I murmur, kissing her one last time.

I step back, out of her arms and back into my armor. As it closes around me, Tevos moves around her desk with a limp and sits in her chair, directing a sweet smile at me. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

She winks playfully, tapping her terminal and falling back into politician-mode. "It was a pleasure to see you, Mr. Dewitt." Tevos waves gracefully, and I know a dismissal when I see one.

…

As the elevator descends to the Presidium, a message pops up on my omni-tool. It's from Ilo.

_[Ilo:_

_Dewitt, your weapon is ready. Come to the Warehouse 42, Lower Zakera Ward.]_

Well, that's brief, but then again, Ilo's not known for words.

I step out of the elevator and call a sky-car, directing it to the Zakera Ward. Sitting back, I can't help but wonder where Zaira is. Has she met with Barla Von, or is she on her way to meet Harkin?

I don't know why I'm asking myself, I can just call her up and find out. So I do just that. "Hey, Shepard, how are you doing?" I ask as her face appears on my screen.

"_Just met with a Volus named Barla Von."_ She replies, cobalt hair bouncing as she walks. _"Apparently, Saren was working with the Shadow Broker on something, then betrayed him or it afterwards, and hired a Krogan mercenary to take of something. I'm going to meet with him at the C-Sec Academy and see what he knows."_

"Sounds good." I say as the car descends. "I've got something to do, but I'll be done shortly. Where do you want to meet up?"

On her end, a door closes and soft music picks up. _"Well, after we talk to the Krogan, I think we're going to go meet this guy named 'Harkin' in Chora's Den. Apparently, he might know something about that Turian Officer we met, Garrus. Or hey, crazy idea here, I could ask you instead of going to a seedy strip club!"_

We're going to go there anyway, might as well skip one trip. "Ha, yeah, that would probably be better. Uh, Garrus usually hangs out after a case either at med-Center in the Lower Wards or the Flux, also in the Lower Wards. We'd probably find him there." I relay, stepping out of the car. "I've got to go. Let's meet outside of the Med-Center, okay?"

"_Alright, see you there."_

The call ends and I walk through the door of Warehouse 42 to find it empty and dark, except for one light shining down in the middle of the floor. Well, Ilo has a taste for theatricality. Walking to the light and the table there, I stop and wait.

The sound of footsteps echo as a tall being comes into the light. Ilo is a Turian, an old Turian with gray skin and wrinkles. He sets a case on the table and flips the latches. "Mr. Dewitt, I have made weapons for a very long time." He starts with a dry, rasping voice. "I am the greatest weapon maker in the Galaxy, and this is my greatest creation."

He opens the case and turns it towards me.

Inside of the case, nestled in foam is a gun. Not just any gun. A hand cannon.

Gleaming silver with a fitted back grip, a thick barrel with small stylistic spikes on the near the back serving as iron sights, with a revolving chamber.

It's the most beautiful gun I've ever seen.

"This is the last gun I'll ever make, and there are none other like it." Ilo whispers proudly. "I'm almost tempted to cut off my hands so I cannot copy it, but I need them to sandwhiches and other important things."

"What's this?" I ask, pointing to a folded piece in the case next to a few cylinders smaller than a thermal clip.

"Ah, this is what I was working on when you sent me those scans." Ilo says, lifting it into the air to show a belt with small slots in it. The belt itself is thick with obvious tech in it. "But first, these. Using the scans of those thermal clips you sent me, I was able to finish on the project I was working on."

He holds one of the cylinders up and pries it open. "See, the inside of the cartridge is hollow, with this," He taps a small piece of metal, "inside. This a small sample of tungsten carbide, one of the densest metals in existence. You fit the cartridge in a slot," He closed it and placed it into an empty slot on the belt, a red light coming on above it.

"Using the stores of omni-gel inside, the hollow is filled, and the small computer in the belt activates the conversion program using the tungsten sample as a template, turning all of the gel inside it the metal." The light flickered to green after a few minutes. "Green means the process is done and is ready to be used."

Ilo deftly hefted the gun, quickly flicking open the revolving chamber and slotting the cartridge inside before closing it. "I designed this gun to use the tungsten inside the cartridge as the shaving block instead of having it inside the weapon itself," he explains. "It revolves, bringing the metal into the chamber, where the Mass Effect field shaves off chunk and accelerates it to a fraction of the speed of light, firing off a slug of dense metal, strong enough to pierce the heaviest of armors."

He holds the gun up to light, admiring it from every angle. "It truly is my greatest creation." His black eyes fall on me. "Every weapon I've made deals death, Mr. Dewitt, but this…this is art. The art of death. It is made for nothing less than the ending of all the targets in its sight."

Ilo flips the weapon, gripping it by the barrel, and presents it to me. I take it delicately, almost afraid of shattering it. "It is no fragile plastic pistol, Mr. Dewitt." He says, chuckling. "I used some of the metal you sent me as the base for it, but it was too flexible, bendable, so I forged my own and used a mix. Now, each cartridge can fire ten rounds before the tungsten is depleted. Once it is, unload the revolver, replace the cartridge and place the spent container back in the belt, where it will be refilled."

My omni-tool flashes. "I've sent maintenance notes on your weapon." Ilo says seriously, holding up a small chit. "These are the design documents."

He places it on the table and crushes it under his hand, sweeping the dust away. "There. Now, it is unique. And for a weapon such as this, it needs a name."

It feels right in my hand. Not too heavy, but a comforting weight and balanced perfectly. This weapon…is mine. And I have just the name. "Can you engrave something for me?" I ask, holding the gun out.

"Of course," he replies. "What do you want to name it?"

….

"Invictus."

Ilo's eyes widen, and he nods firmly. "So shall it be."

As he finishes engraving the name into the barrel in a fancy script, an idea comes to mind. "Ilo."

"Yes?"

"You said this is the last gun you'll ever make."

"It is."

"…How about a ship?"

He looks up, arching a Turian eyebrow. "You have my interest."

…

…

With Invictus on my right thigh, and the belt around my waist with six cartridges, the seventh in the chamber, I can't help but see the stares my open carrying of a beautiful and deadly weapon garners.

Outside of the Med-Center, the rest of the squad is waiting, joined by a hulking form in crimson armor.

Wrex. His scarred visage is just as intimidating as I remember.

"Shepard. I see you picked up a follower?" I greet them easily.

She turns a wary eye on the Krogan near her. "More like a brief companion. He's just coming with us to deal with someone named Fist, apparently he betrayed the Shadow Broker for Saren."

"Really now?" I mutter. Well, no one ever said Fist was smart. "So, we're going to storm Chora's Den and take his dumb ass out?"

Wrex grunts out a short chuckle. "Yep. I'm getting paid handsomely to do so, as well."

"You sound like you've dealt with him before." Tara says as we head for the door.

"I did. A eight months or so back, he was harassing a friend of mine, so I broke his leg and threatened to kill him if he didn't leave her alone." I relay, tapping the door. "It was the doctor here, ironically enough."

As the door slides open, I see what I'm expecting to see. Three thugs, one with a visor over his left eye holding Chloe at gunpoint.

…But where's Garrus?

They notice us entering and the lead thug grabs Chloe and faces us. "Don't move! One more step and-"

The red-headed doctor shoves her elbow into the thug's stomach, ducking under his arm and twisting it behind his back, holding him in front of herself as a shield.

I draw Invictus, point it at the closest thug and pulling the trigger.

The thunderous boom echoes through the room as the slug tears through his weak shields and rips through his body like tissue paper, sending his corpse into the wall. The next slug causes the other thug's head to evaporate in a cloud of red.

I twirl my gun once and place it on my thigh, approaching Chloe who kicks the lead thug's legs out from underneath him, forcing him to his knees. "Good job, Doctor."

She looks up from the struggling man, his arm twisted in such a way that the barrel of his pistol is pointed at the back of his head. "Saul!" She says in surprise. "I didn't know you were back!"

"Yes I am. I see those self-defense lessons have come in handy, though you might want to let go, he's-" The thug's gun goes off, splattering his brains on the floor. Chloe yelps and drops the corpse to the floor, jumping back.

"-about to pull the trigger." I finish, quite late.

The doctor sighs and wipes her hands on towel. "Thanks for helping me," Chloe says, flashing a brief smile and stepping forward to hug me and press a small kiss to my cheek. "I'm glad you came by when you did. Those were Fist's men."

Shepard steps up. "Do you know why he sent that after you?"

She shakes her head. "No, not really."

"Did you know that Fist was an Agent of the Shadow Broker?" Zaira prods carefully.

"Of course…wait, 'was'? Did Fist betray the Shadow Broker?" Chloe asks worriedly.

Shepard nods and the doctor panics. "Oh no." She mumbles, running a hand through her hair. "I sent a Quarian his way earlier, she said she had information on some Spectre and she was willing to sell it to the Shadow Broker. I didn't know Fist changed sides!"

I trade looks with Zaira and nod. "Another reason to get to Chora's Den. Chloe, I'll see you later and I'll take responsibility for the bodies, too!" I yell back, the squad running out of the Med-Center.

"Hey, Saul, two things." Zaira starts, jogging along easily.

"Yes?"

"Is there anyone the Citadel you don't know?" She asks rhetorically. "And two: where did you get that gun? And where can I get one?"

"You can't this is the only one. And no, you can't try it out."

"Aww…"

….

….

….

**A/N: And that's that. Next chapter, storming Chora's Den and dealing with Fist, as well as meeting a certain Quarian Engineer.**

**Nearly a hundred reviews within three chapters, I must be doing something right.**

**I really don't have much to say this time around.**

**Notes: Invictus: It's a hand-cannon. It goes boom and things die. The science behind it is mostly Destiny with Mass Effect, and the name "Invictus" means "Unconquerable" in Latin, and does reference the poem of the same name.**

**Ilo is an original character. An old Turian who designed weapons, with Invictus being his last. He's meant as a cool old guy and that's about it, except for the ship in the future, which will be just as cool/crazy as Saul is.**

**Read, Review and Enjoy.**

**Stay Awesome.**

**~Soleneus**

**P.S.: If you want a visual for Invictus, look up Hawkmoon. They're similar, but there are differences.**

**Stay Awesome Some More.**

**~still Soleneus**


	5. The Assault on Chora's Den

We probably look pretty weird. A group consisting of five humans and one Krogan jogging through the market isn't something one sees everyday.

Passing through the Lower Markets, we come to the area outside of Chora's Den; a walkway split in two with large gap in the middle that falls deep into the Citadel. And on the other side of walkway are two Turians in light armor, aiming weapons at us.

I'll take them out quickly so we don't have to bother with them. Sprinting at the gap, I jet over it and land right in the middle of the two surprised assassins. "Surprise, cockbags!" I yell, turning and punching one in the face, arcs of energy disintegrating the body.

I kick back, bending the other Turian over before jumping to my left foot and jetting up with my knee out, kneeing him in the chin and sending him over the edge, his screams fading quickly.

Looking down, I see that one of them dropped a pistol. It's light and pretty fancy looking. I snag that and join the rest of the squad at the door to Chora's Den, which is locked. "Hey Kaidan, what kind of pistol do you have?"

He looks down at his gun and replies, "Kessler Mk. III."

I toss him the pistol in my hands. "Striker Mk. IV, way better firing rate and cooldown."

Kaidan nods in thanks, switching his mods out and passing his pistol to me, which gets goo'd and stored in my belt.

Tara unlocks the door and rolls back as a hail of bullets rips through the air she previously inhabited. Looks like the bouncers are armed and aware that we're coming.

Wrex goes first, Barrier flaring as his shotgun roars. I slide out behind him, knocking a few tables over for cover and pop out, squeezing off a pair of shots that hurl the two humans off their feet.

Shepard ducks behind my table as rounds bounce off of her shield. "Targets on the balcony!" She points at the dance area above the bar, where four or so mooks are raining shots down on top of us.

"I got them!" I reply over the gunfire.

She nods and nudges Tara. The blonde snags a yellow-ringed grenade and tosses it into the air. "Flash out!" She shouts in warning.

My visor darkens as the grenade goes off, unleashing a blinding flash of light that made our enemies recoil in shock. I jet into the air, heading straight for the group on the balcony, Invictus kicking in my hand as three die from slugs ripping through their shields and flesh, in that order.

I zoom at the last, and as I pass by her head, my knee comes up under her chin and she goes up with a sharp crack, arcing over the circular balcony and hitting the ground limply.

One of the Krogan guards gets lifted into the air by a shimmering blue field, a ball of similar coloring racing out to meet him in a biotic explosion.

The last three guards huddle in the doorway on the far side of the club, but that's not going to help them even a little bit. A pair of Concussive Rockets impact and explode, and the last Krogan stumbles out of the smoke to meet two shots from my gun.

As the headless corpse falls to the ground, I jump from the balcony and land, flicking open the revolver and trading cartridges, slotting the spent one into my belt.

Well, that didn't take long. With as many people as there are in the squad, I shouldn't be surprised.

The door is a little warped by the heat of my rockets and splattered with cooked blood, but they open just fine, showing a pair of low-level workers pointing cheap pistols at us with shaking hands, which only gets worse when they come face-to-face three assault rifles, one pistol, one hand-cannon, and one shotgun.

Seeing as they're quivering in fear, Zaira steps forward and nods towards the door. "Maybe now would be a good time to change careers." She says dryly, fingering her rifle.

The two look at each for a second before dropping their guns and sprinting out the door.

Kaidan moves to the door and starts to hack the lock, and I scoop up the two pistols and goo them, then crack open a few lockers for their contents as well.

"What assault rifles do you have, ladies?" I ask over my shoulder, breaking down a shotgun and a pistol.

"Avenger IV." Shepard replies as Tara says "Lancer IV." And Ashley responds with, "Lancer II."

I grab the rifle before me and hold it out to the Soldier. "Here, Terminator III."

She blinks and trades weapons with me, hefting her new gun appreciatively. I examine her gun, a standard-issue piece I wouldn't bother modding, and it looks like she didn't. "Ash, you have any mods?" I question, breaking it down.

The Gunny shakes her head and catches the mod that bounces off of her helmet when I toss it at her. "Incendiary Rounds." I explain at her questioning look.

She nods and inserts it as the door slides open. As we move into the room, I hear Fist yell, "I'll just have to take care of you myself!"

And to add a bit of irony to his statement, a pair of shielded turrets unfold in front of his desk.

I dive to the other side of the room as they open fire and take cover behind a piece of wall that is there for some reason, and pull a Shock Grenade out of my pouch and activate the sticky function.

Wrex steps out and blasts the nearest turret with his shotgun, taking a good chunk out of it's battery, and using him as cover, Tara leans out and tags it with an Overload.

I blindly flick the grenade at my turret and from the doorway I can see Shepard point her omni-tool at it, a small smile on her face despite seriousness in her eyes. And then I hear her say clearly, "Shazam."

As the grenade overloads, arcs of electricity reaching out and spearing into the other turret, I can't help but smile. Glad I left an impression.

I lean out a sink three rounds into the body of the turret and it explodes in small cloud of smoke and sparks. Wrex steps out of cover and grabs the other sentry by the barrel and tears it off with an angry grunt.

Fist pops out, rifle pointed at the Krogan Battlemaster, not realizing that his turret are down until just that second as a tungsten slug tears his gun in half, scattering it on the floor in pieces.

He turns to run and Wrex tosses the barrel at his back, knocking him to the ground.

As we approach his down form, he flips onto his back and whips out a pistol. I reach out and Tether his gun, yanking it out of his hand and into my own, flipping it to point at him.

"You know Fist, I always thought you were stupid." I comment lightly. "Your name, for one, but betraying the Shadow Broker for a human-hating Turian Spectre? Isn't there a legal limit for how dumb one person can be? There should."

His eyes go wide and he points at me. "I recognize that voice! You're that asshole cop that shot me in the leg!"

Shepard turns to me with questioning eyebrow. "I thought you broke his leg?"

I shrug. "I did that too. Broke his left leg then shot his right and made him crawl to a sky-car terminal. Nobody threatens my friends. Speaking of…"

I sight down on his leg and squeeze off a shot, the round tearing through his armor and kneecap. "That's for threatening Chloe again. You're lucky Garrus isn't here."

I don't think he hears me, all rolling on the floor clutching his bloody knee and what not, so I place his gun on my left thigh and move to his safe on the wall. It's not like he'll miss it anytime soon. Waste not, want not and all that.

"What did you do with the Quarian, Fist?" Zaira asks as the safe quickly open under my tender ministrations. Ooh, money, and is that a couple of Offsite Storage Disks? You bet your sweet ass it is.

Fist stammers out, "I-I told her I'd set up a meet w-with some of the Shadow Broker's agents. I just alerted Saren and he sent some Bounty Hunters to silence her."

Turning back, I see disgust on Zaira's face as she bumps his bloody knee with her foot. "You're a real scumbag," She mutters before stomping on his leg. "Where are they meeting?"

Fist manages to stop crying in pain, the big baby, choking out the location: an alley not that far from here, we actually passed it on the way.

As Wrex steps up to do his job, I stand in front of him. "Why would Saren hire Bounty Hunters to kill someone?" I ask in confusion.

"What do you mean?" He manages to say.

"I mean if she's not a criminal and doesn't have an actual 'Bounty' on her head, why the fuck are Bounty Hunters after her?"

Fist just looks confused. "Be-because they're getting…paid too?"

I kick him in the side and shout down at him. "Then they aren't actually 'Bounty Hunters', are they?! They would be assassins or mercenaries!" Speaking of, I step aside and Wrex aims his shotgun at Fist's head. "Much like Wrex, actually."

His shotgun booms and the thug formerly known as Fists' head is pulverized by a cluster of mass-accelerated steel pellets.

"Let's move, people!" Shepard barks before sprinting out of the door, followed by everyone else.

As soon as we reach the bar and club section, I activate my jetpack and fly over the platform, through the door and across the walkway, landing to slap open the door just as a Turian, next to a pair of armored Salarians, runs his hand up the arm of a Quarian with a purple and white hood.

She slaps his hand away and the two Salarians close in threateningly. She drops a grenade near their feet and dives away as it explodes, knocking the group over.

The Turian scrambles to his feet, the order to kill her on his…mandibles, but I've already sprinted across the distance and leapt, left foot out in what I hope is a perfectly-executed karate kick. The bottom of my boot slams into the side of his head along with a meaty crack and he flies into the wall, not getting back up.

The two amphibians turn to the bigger threat, moi, and the one farthest from me pitches forward, green blood spraying from his chest.

The last of the 'Bounty Hunters' pauses, trying to figure out a course of action and then I punch him in the face, causing his body to disintegrate in a light-show of sparks and energy.

The quarian girl warily pokes her head up from behind the short wall she's taken cover behind, and I greet her with a jaunty little wave. "Hey there."

She steps out, weapon trained on me. "Thank you for helping, but who are you?"

My helmet splits, showing my face. "My name is Saul. I'm a friend, and you have some information I'm very interested in."

"How do you know about that?" She asks cautiously, stepping back a bit.

"Well, I just came from Chora's Den after kicking Fist's ass. He told me that you have info on a certain Spectre and that he is actually working for Saren, not the Shadow Broker."

Her eyes flicker behind her visor. "That bosh'tet," She mutters angrily. "I knew he set me up, I knew it!"

At this time, the rest of squad shows up. "Takes care of that." Shepard says to herself, storing her assault rifle away. "Were you hurt in the fight?"

As it's obviously not directed at me, Tali answers. "I can take care of myself, but I appreciate the concern. Are you with…this other human?"

I cut in. "More like the other way around. And my name is Saul."

"I'm Commander Shepard," Zaira says. "I'm looking for information to prove that Saren's a traitor."

"Then I can help you in return." She looks around the alley, at the dead bodies. "But not here. Somewhere safe."

"The Human Embassy should be safe enough," I suggest, though I'm still confused as to where Garrus is. "Besides, the Ambassadors will want to hear this."

"True enough. Let's go."

…

We have to take two sky-cars to get back to the Human Embassy, with our squad now numbering at six.

Stepping out of the cars and heading towards the Embassy, a familiar Turian stands nearby, waiting with his arms crossed. He looks up and sees our group and steps forward. "I heard you are looking for evidence to convict Saren and I want to help."

Well, this is kind of awkward. "Yeah, about that…We kind of did all of that already." I say, scratching my cheek.

Garrus gapes at us. "What, really? It's only been two hours, at least!"

I shrug. "That's all it takes, apparently. You really missed out."

He shakes his head ruefully. "Can I at least tag along to see the end? I've been working on this case for two months."

Shepard shrugs uncaringly and heads towards the office. "I don't particularly care, so why not?"

Heading up the ramp, I can hear the Ambassadors and Anderson chatting. As the door slides open, Gabrielle folds her arms and looks to us. "Commander, I sincerely hope you have a reason for the pile of dead bodies, not to mention the assault on a seedy strip club."

"I do." Zaira turns and nods to Tali.

"A Quarian?" Udina asks in confusion. "I know your people have been in talks to become a client race, but what are you doing outside of the Flotilla?"

"My name is Tali'Zorah nar'Rayya." She introduces herself. "I'm on my Pilgramage. It's the Rite of Passage into adulthood for us, where we journey to find a gift to bring back. It could tech or equipment, or even knowledge, as long as it benefits the Flotilla in some way."

Anderson nods to himself. "Interesting. What evidence do you have?" He asks, bringing the subject back up.

Tali brings up her omni-tool and starts tapping away. "I salvaged a memory core from a Geth unit."

"I thought the Geth fried their memory cores," Anderson interrupts. "Some sort of defense mechanism."

She nods. "My people created the Geth, and after they exiled us from our planet, they have never come out of the Veil. When I heard they had been seen, I tracked some to an unnamed planet and waited for one to split off from its unit before I took it down. With some skill, speed and a little luck, I managed to get this."

She taps the omni-tool and a familiar voice fills the air.

"_The attack on Eden Prime was a major victory,"_ Saren says smugly. I can see Anderson's fist clenching and his visage turning to stone, and faces of the other humans match it. _"The Beacon has brought us one step closer to the Conduit."_

"That's Saren's voice." Anderson says, dark eyes glimmering angrily. "This is irrefutable proof that he's a traitor. The Council needs to hear this immediately."

"There's more," Tali interjects, playing the audio again.

It seems like a moot point now, but I really, really hope that Benezia isn't going follow Saren's little speech.

"_And one step closer, to the return of the Reapers."_

…And there it is. Fuck!

Gabi's eyes narrow. "I recognize that voice…that sounded like Matriarch Benezia." She comments, tapping her chin in thought.

Only someone with passing knowledge of Benezia would say that's what she sounds like. She spoke with passion, a fire that was vocal in its' intensity…and when we were alone, the love was just as prevalent in her tone. Along with a hint mischievousness occasionally.

This…is the same voice, yeah, but everything else was missing. Her voice is a dark monotone, bereft of any real emotion or inflection.

Gods, I can't wait to kill Saren. And Sovereign.

"This 'Conduit', whatever it is, can't be good for anyone, not if leads to these 'Reapers' coming back." Anderson comments seriously. "But what are they?"

"According to the data I pulled," Tali speaks up, "the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed fifty-thousand years ago. They hunted the Protheans to extinction!"

And to think, the truth is scarier than that.

Shepard's eyes lose focus, as if she's looking at something not visible to anyone else. "I think…I think I know what I saw during that vision…" She mutters. "I think I saw the Reapers wiping out the Protheans."

"Visons, Reapers?" Udina says skeptically. "Sounds a little far-fetched to me."

I clear my throat to get the attention of the room, and when they're all looking at me, I point at Wrex, Garrus and Tali. "I doubt you were around for it, but there was a time that humans thought of alien life forms as 'far-fetched', and now look: Fuckin' Aliens, man."

"You have a point," Gabi adds, nodding to me. "However, Saren is the more immediate threat and I've already sent a message to the Council asking for an emergency meeting. They want us in the Council Chambers, now."

"Have you sent a message to Nihlus?" Shepard asks, having recovered from her little episode.

"I have," Gabi replies, "He'll meet us there."

"Now, what to do about the Quarian?" Udina asks the room.

Tali steps forward angrily. "My name is Tali! Let me come with you. I proved I can take care of myself and I know how to fight the Geth. I can be useful!"

Zaira looks to Anderson, who defers it back to her, who glances at me with a quirked eyebrow. I nod once and she turns to Tali. "Alright, Tali'Zorah, welcome on board. Now, let's get to the Council Chambers."

…

"_This is preposterous, it's barely been three hours!"_ We can hear Saren's voice booming through the chambers, seeing his huge hologram flickering in the holo-tank as he bitches at the Council. _"How can any evidence they find be taken seriously?"_

Going up the steps with Anderson at the forefront, the Council turns to look at us. "I hope you have a good reason for practically demanding an Emergency Meeting, Ambassadors?" Tevos asks seriously.

Anderson nods. "Councilors, we have irrefutable proof that Saren is a traitor."

"_And what would that be, human?"_ Saren hisses angrily, beginning to lose his composure.

"That would be me, _Saren_." A flanged voice speaks up.

We part as the tall black-and-red armored form of Nihlus steps up to stare at Saren, who has gone silent, his mandibles twitching shock.

"Well, more than one instance of treason," I say, not trying to hide my amusement. Tevos quickly schools her face into a blank mask as I point to Tali, who taps her omni-tool.

The audio echoes through the atrium, ending in heavy, damning silence. Saren, gaping in pure, unadulterated shock, looks to the Council, back to us and Nihlus, before his hologram snaps out and the holo-tank powers down.

Oh snap, son. If the audio and Nihlus wasn't enough, his sudden leaving was the icing on the cake.

"In light of this new evidence, we find Saren guilty of treason, and declare him an enemy of the Citadel." Tevos speaks up, hiding her look of satisfaction.

"Councilors, in light of these events, I would like to submit my recommendation." Nihlus says, crossing his arms and being vague just in case.

The Asari Councilor looks to the Salarian and the Turian, the latter of whom doesn't even protest beyond a shocked shake of his head. the Salarian, however, has his eyes flicking over a report on the terminal before him, and when he finishes, he nods to Tevos.

"Very well. Commander Shepard, please step forward." Zaira steps up, looking slightly confused. "It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the rights and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Branch of the Citadel."

Valern, the Salarian Councilor speaks up next. "Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fires of service and battle; those whose actions lift them above the rank-and-file."

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, the embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance. They are the right hands of the Council, instruments of our will."

Sparatus pipes up, sounding distracted. "Spectres bear a great burden. Both our first and last line of defense, the safety of the Galaxy is theirs to uphold."

Zaira nods once. "I understand and accept this responsibility."

"Spectre Shepard, as your first mission, you are to hunt down and apprehend the former Spectre Saren Arterius." Tevos orders commandingly. "Good luck. This meeting is adjourned."

Stepping away from the stand, Anderson is barely holding in a smile, allowing brief twitches to curl his lips. Probably enjoying the look on Saren's face. "Congratulations, Shepard." He says sincerely. "I knew you could do it."

She flashes a small smile at him before Udina speaks up. "This a great step forward," He declares proudly. "But you'll need a ship…Anderson, I need to speak with you."

"And myself as well," Gabi interjects, tossing a light glare Udina's way.

The three leave us there and Zaira turns to Nihlus. "What will you do now, Nihlus?"

The Turian smirked a bit. "I did say that Eden Prime would be the first of many missions, Shepard, and that hasn't changed. Though I won't lie, I want to get Saren for personal reasons as well."

"What about you, Wrex?" The old Krogan grunts and chuckles.

"Heh, I've had more fun in the last three hours than I've had in the last hundred years. I know you're going to be right in the middle of all of this and I want to be there." He declared, nodding.

Shepard shook her head slightly and reached out to shake his hand. "Saul?"

What, really? "Do you even have to ask, Shepard?" I say, sounding insulted. "I'm going nowhere."

She winks a yellow eye at me, a small, impish smile on her lips, before turning to Garrus. "And uh, Garrus, is it?"

"Yeah?"

"…Hi."

Garrus sighs. "Hello."

"Alright," I clap my hands together. "Why don't we celebrate this occasion with a drink at the Flux? I hear Chora's Den has some lovely burgers, but I believe they'll be closed for awhile."

…

The techno-synth-bullshit music pounds away as some people dance, with the squad (and Garrus, Chloe and Nelon) taking up a round booth and a table.

I stand from the booth and stride over to the bar where Nihlus is nursing a blue Turian whiskey. "Hey man." I greet, motioning to the bartender for a refill of my G'n'T.

"Hello, Saul." He returns, sipping his drink.

"Thinking about Saren?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Nihlus grumbles. "The man taught me how to be a Spectre, he was my mentor…then he turns around and does this?"

Oh, an opening. "You know," I nudge Nihlus, directing his attention to Chloe and Garrus sitting together. "Garrus was evaluated to be Spectre, but his dad shut it down on him, thinks Spectres are unnecessary and didn't want to see he son become above the law."

"Oh?" Nihlus perks up a bit, looking interested.

Got to be careful now; too much and I'll put him off or worse. "Yeah, Garrus is one the best Detectives C-Sec has, but all the red-tape and paper-work slow him down. I think he might quit one day, just to get away from all the bureaucracy."

Nihlus stands up and finishes his drink. "Interesting. Excuse me, I think I'll go speak to him."

As he walks to table the Human-Turian couple is sitting at, I turn back to my drink and take a sip. And there we go, it's up to Garrus to bring it home. He better thank me.

"That was smooth." A smoky voice murmurs next to me.

I glance at the source of the voice and try to refrain from choking. Coughing a bit, I turn to the woman, her dark blue eyes glittering in amusement and something else. "Elizabeth?" I sputter, wiping the liquid dripping down my chin away. "Where the hell have you been?"

…

…

…

**A/N: That's right, Elizabeth is involved in this, remember? I thought it was time to bring her back, if only for a bit.**

**So, I hope you enjoyed this, I don't have much to say. There will be plenty of time for pithy and sarcastic comments later, I'm about to go out to meet my aunt and go see Taken 3. Maybe I'll get some ideas?**

**Anyway, Read, Review and Enjoy.**

**Stay Awesome.**

**~Soleneus**

**P.S.: Go Hawks.**

**Stay Awesome Some More**

**~still Soleneus**


	6. Celebrate Good Times, C'mon!

Elizabeth leans on the bar casually, a drink cradled in one hand, the other holding a napkin out to me. I take it and wipe up the small streams of alcohol that trailed down my neck after she did her little pop-in trick.

"Where have you been, Elizabeth?" I ask quietly, "It's been nearly four months since I last saw you."

She lays her hand on top of mine with a sad frown on her lips. "I'm sorry, Saul, but there was something I had to take care of. It took longer than I thought it would."

I squeeze her hand gently. "Well, what are you doing now? We can catch up."

Elizabeth smiles softly. "I'd like that, but I think someone is coming to speak to you."

Looking over my shoulder, I see the cobalt head of hair belonging to only one person heading my way. "I'm going to go grab a table; come talk to me, okay?" She releases my hand and wanders off and Shepard takes her place, watching Elizabeth walk away before turning to me.

"Isn't that your partner?" She asks, looking to the bartender and pointing at her glass.

"Not exactly," I reply, taking a sip of my drink. "Just my partner for that particular case. I've only seen her a couple of times since then. You wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Uhm," Zaira confirms around the drink in her mouth, setting the glass down and licking her lips. "Right. So, while we we're running around, I noticed how easily you got around with that jetpack. I was wondering, since we're going against a former Spectre we'll need every advantage…"

I chuckle and swig my G'n'T. "Zaira, I will say this once: Don't beat around the bush with me. Just say what you want to. I won't judge you for it; I do it all the damn time. Why talk in circles when we could get right to the situation?"

She smiles a bit and taps her fingers on the counter, and I get the feeling she already knew that. "Alright. Do you have more of those jetpacks and can I get some for the squad?"

"Sure," I reply with small grin. "I was going to ask you, actually. I've got a dozen or so stashed here, but I'll need to modify them before anyone uses one."

Zaira lifts a questioning eyebrow. "Why?"

I jerk my thumb at my back. "The one I have right now is modified. The original pack consumed energy pretty quickly and couldn't really fly all that well with armor. I had to up the power while negating an increased power draw and fit a dedicated power source into my armor."

Not now, though. With the Biotic Scrubber responsible for that and my shields it's no longer a problem, as I generate a shit-ton of energy subconsciously. "I'll need to get some batteries or the packs will have to draw on the shield generators; which would allow short jaunts into the air, but leave them with only armor as protection."

Shepard hums and glances back at the squad. "I don't think that would be a problem with Wrex or Nihlus, but the others have armor only slightly better than the standard-issue stuff." She narrows her eyes and looks off to the side in thought. "Although…I am the _First Human Spectre_…I think if I can swing it, I could req some better gear for a discount. _'The First Human Spectre and her squad wear Liberator Armor, and you could be just as awesome as them if you bought a suit! Buy now, only 243,000 credits!'_"

I snort and chuckle. "How devious! Commander Shepard, _THE FIRST HUMAN SPECTRE_, trying to use her new status and title to get discounts? What a Renegade you are."

Zaira grins and waggles her eyebrows. "Well, I might as well make the most of it. I mean, besides the autonomy, using it to get free stuff is probably the best part of the whole deal!"

We share a laugh and I check my chrono. "It's getting late now, but do you want to go down to the Gear Master and get some new stuff tomorrow? You might not get a discount, but you'll have access to Spectre gear."

"Sounds like a plan." She says with an easy smile. "Nihlus is giving me a look, so I'm going to go see what's up. Meet you at C-Sec at…eight?"

"Alright," I agree with a nod. "It's a date."

Zaira grins and begins to walk away. "Ooh, some date, looking at weapons and armor! How lucky am I?" She replies sarcastically.

I shrug. "Well, I'll just have to take you on a real date then."

She pauses mid-stride and looks back at me over her shoulder, her face schooled and her yellow eyes searching. After a few seconds (even though it seems like hours) a soft, warm smile curves her lips, her entire face lighting up and her eyes glittering. My stomach does an extremely awkward back-flip when she nods and continues walking away.

Guess that's a 'yes' then. Stop flipping, stupid stomach, it's just alcohol.

There's a strange heat in my cheeks, and I'm kind of worried. Maybe I'm getting a fever? That wouldn't be a good thing.

I get my drink refilled and wander to the table Garrus and Chloe are sitting at, with the blue-painted Turian with a naked look of surprise on his face, matching the one the red-head is sporting. "What's up?" I ask, sliding into the chair opposite of them.

Garrus doesn't really respond, only making a strangled gurgling noise. I look to Chloe, who manages to shake whatever the fuck is affecting them off and answers my question. "That Spectre, Nihlus, came over here and read Garrus' record to us, the full thing. After he was done, he asked if Garrus would like to be under him as a Spectre Trainee."

Bitchin'. Subtle manipulation for the win. "And…?" I trail off, "Shouldn't he be happy?"

"He is," She clarifies quickly, "But…" She looks away awkwardly, grabbing his hand tightly.

"Ah." I get it. "Garrus wants to go and fulfill his dream of being a Spectre…but he also wants to stay and fulfill his dream of being with you."

Chloe nods and Garrus gurgles again. "Well, there is a Krogan, a Quarian and another Turian on the squad and the doctor is only familiar with human and Turian anatomy. I think if you could swing it-"

The Turian beside her drops her hand and stands up quickly, dropping her hand and pointing at me with wide eyes and choked words before practically sprinting for the distant Nihlus.

Chloe frowns a bit, looking kind of hurt at his sudden departure. I reach over and take her hand. "What I was saying that, if he could swing it with Nihlus and Shepard, he could get you to come along with us."

She gasps and looks over at Garrus speaking rapidly with Nihlus. "Really? But what about my clinic?" She slumps a little before perking right the fuck back up. "I can get Nelon to take over!"

I was just about to suggest that, dammit. Apparently that thought is all over my face, because Chloe narrows her aqua eyes on me, both humorous and suspicious at the same time.

"You had something to do with this, didn't you?" She asks quietly, leaning close. "I saw you talking to Nihlus earlier and didn't really think about it…until he walked over here and offered to be Garrus' mentor. And then when we were torn about how to decided, you sidle over here and solve that problem in a second, presenting it as half an idea. And then, just now, you were about to say what I did about Nelon…like you planned for it."

My jaw snaps shut, teeth clicking together audibly over the music. And that's enough to confirm Chloe's theory, as she nods and leans forward even more until we're practically nose-to-nose.

"Why would you do all of this, Saul?" She whispers, staring into my eyes.

I sigh and sit back, rubbing my forehead. "Because you're my friends," I say tiredly. "Nelon was my first friend, but you and Garrus are some of the people I care about the most, okay? Yeah, I planned it out so you could come with me and I know it's selfish to put your guys' life in danger just so I can spend more time with you, but…"

I slump back in my chair and close my eyes. "Saren is a danger to everyone and I couldn't take it if you died when I could've done something about it."

I think that's the most honest I've ever been with anyone, not including Tevos or Jade. A pair of slim, warm arms wrap around my neck and soft kiss is pressed to my cheek.

Opening my eyes, I find a mass of red hair covering part of my vision. Chloe is hugging me. I'm surprised by this. I know she's a logical woman who would be able to see my reasoning, but I hadn't exactly expected a hug.

She draws back, a warm smile on her lips and a bit of wetness in her eyes. "You're a sweet man, Saul Dewitt," She murmurs softly before reaching down to kiss my cheek again. "If a little selfish. But then, who isn't?"

Chloe takes her seat across from me, holding my hand. I smile at her and rub my thumb over her knuckles. "Thanks."

I shift in my seat and stare at her seriously. "I said you guys were my friends…but I'll have to change that, won't I?" My tone is low and going the way of furious.

"W-what?" She stutters, taken aback by the sudden change.

"Did you _really_ think I wouldn't find out?" I mutter angrily. "When the signs are so obvious anyone can see them?"

Chloe's eyes go wide, flickering between me and Garrus as her face goes pale. Slowly, I hold my our hands up, bringing my other out to point at her left ring finger…and the smooth gold band around it. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me you guys got engaged!" I yell, flinging my arms up comically. "I would've thrown a party!"

She blinks in shock before the color rushes back to her face and she sputters. Finally managing to get her words in order, the first thing out of her mouth is: "Wait, that's what you were talking about?"

I quirk an eyebrow at her over my drink. "Yeah. What else would I be talking about?"

And now Chloe's flushing in embarrassment. Why? Before I can ask, Garrus strides up to the table with a triumphant air about him that disappears as I jump up from my seat and thrust a finger in his face. "You asshole! Why would you keep this from me, man? I thought we we're friends!"

I hope I'm not coming off as angry; I'm going for more humorously whiny than anything. And there it is again, he shoots a panicked look at his fiancé. What the fuck?

"You're supposed to tell your friends you're getting married." I clarify. Seriously, what the hell?

"Oh!" He says, trying to hide a sigh of relief. Why is he relieved? "Sorry, but I kind of forgot with the case going on. And Shepard and Nihlus agreed to let Chloe come with!"

I let out a whoop. "Alright!"

Chloe throws herself at Garrus excitedly, though she seems to be whispering in his ear about something.

"Well, I'll leave you to your making out," I say dryly, stepping away.

Good for them, but if they're going to be Secret Susies right in front of me, Imma go. I need to talk to Elizabeth anyway.

I find her where I'd expect to: In the darkest corner of the bar in the smallest both, nursing a drink and a cigarette, the red light from the burning tip only illuminating her chin, cheeks and eyes, leaving the rest in darkness.

I slide in the seat in front of her and pull my own burnable from the pack in my pocket. "Gotta light?" I ask sticking it between my lips.

Her eyes twinkle and she reaches up with one delicate pale hand and snaps her fingers, an orange flame flaring to life on her thumb, though it doesn't burn her.

I lean forward and light the tip of my cigarette, taking a short draw before gently grasping her wrist and blowing the flame out with the smoke. I slide my hand up and entwine our fingers together and set them on the table, stroking the side of her hand.

We sit in silence, the cigarettes getting lower and lower as we just look at each other in the darkness, simply enjoying the other's presence. I think…I think I like this the most about women. More specifically, the women in my life.

Sex is nice. It can be wild and fiery, an intimate combat or slow and intense word-less love letter. It can even be cold and clinical, but I've avoided that, thank gods. I'd hate to feel cold during the purest form of living expression.

Kissing is just as good or even better sometimes. There's something entirely different to the intimacy of kissing. Part teasing, part want, part need, part love and part lust.

But what I like the most is touching. Just touching. Gay as it sounds, but I enjoy the cuddling after sex to the sex itself. Enfolded in the warmth of a woman's arms, skin touching skin, hearts beating in synch, the regular puffs of warm breath…And every woman is soft, too. No matter how scarred or scary they look, or how corded with steel muscles they are, there's always a softness to their skin that you can't find anywhere else.

And this, this holding of hands, my large, rough fingers intertwined with her slim, smooth and pale digits is more intimate than I could ever articulate.

Next thing you know, I'll be drinking appletinis.

The dark glitter in Elizabeth's eyes probably mirror my own. "We won't see each other very much when I leave," I say softly to her. "Do you want to spend the night with me?"

She nods and slides around the small curved seat of the booth, pressing her body to mine, trapping our hands between us and reaches up with her other as I lean down and press my lips to hers, my fingers tangling in her raven locks.

The seat underneath us changes, creaking leather replaced with rustling cloth and the noise of music, chatting and drinking disappears and it's just us.

Our lips are still connected as she pushes my jacket open and off, the thick garment being shuffled off to the floor and I reach behind her and grasp the zipper of her dress, pulling it down slowly. Once it reaches her waist, Elizabeth rolls her shoulders and pushes it off to join my jacket on the floor, leaving her in a simple bra and underwear.

As she goes to undo her bra I pull my shirt over my head and discard that before pushing my pants and undergarments off as well.

Elizabeth tosses her bra away and straddles my waist, pressing her naked chest against mine as we kiss again, her slim, warm tongue dancing with my own as one hand slides down to her hip and the other cups the back of her neck.

As we part, breathing heavily, I peck her chin and turn us around, laying a trail of kisses down her throat as I lay her down on the bed. The light of the Citadel splays over her pale skin as I lay a kiss on each of her breasts, the pale pink nipples bouncing slightly with every heaving breath.

I reach the junction of her legs, and like every time before, Elizabeth clasps her knees together in embarrassment, but this doesn't bother me. I press my lips to her legs and grasp the sides of her panties, pulling them up and down her legs to discard them away, then laying my hands on her thighs and gently massaging.

She relaxes and I gently push her legs down, exposing her most sacred place. There's a small patch of raven hair just over her lips that I kiss before placing another, longer kiss directly on her core.

Elizabeth gasps, her fingers curling in my hair. I dive in with my tongue, gently licking and sucking her lips. And though she wears the clothes and make-up of a seductress, she's far more innocent than she appears, her business of saving little girls from horrible fates notwithstanding. And it's reflected in her taste.

Vaguely fruity, but with a very fresh element, which I can only really compare to a fresh spring of water in a desert.

Her legs tighten around my neck and shoulders as she whimpers my name between clenched teeth as I stroke her walls with my tongue and lap up her juices. The sudden tightness around my tongue is my only warning before she orgasms, a rush of fluid spilling into my mouth that I drink down as fast as I can, kissing her lips to prolong it.

When it fades, her legs release my neck and her fingers tug insistently at my hair. I follow her gentle grip back up to her face, her cheeks flushed, eyes half-lidded and slightly glazed, lush red lips parted with soft, harsh pants.

I press my lips to hers and her arms lock around my back as passion and love is passed through our mouths. We part and Elizabeth stops me as I go to move off. "Tonight…" She whispers with need in her voice. "I want all of you tonight…and I want you to have all of me."

"You do?" I ask gently, brushing our noses together.

She bites her lip and nods decisively. I adjust myself and press the tip of my arousal against her wet opening, gently prodding her lips before slowly, so slowly, sinking in.

Elizabeth gasps in discomfort and a bit of pain and close my mouth around hers. Her teeth fasten on my lower lip and her nails dig into my back as I reach into her depths.

When I finally bottom out inside of her, she releases my lip and clenches her eyes shut, panting with a thin stream of tears trickling down her cheeks. I softly lick her tears away and bringing my hand up, massaging the back of her neck while my other does the same to her arched spine and I kiss her gently.

Minutes pass before she relaxes and opens her eyes and nods once. I pull myself out and slowly push back in and she gasps again, this time in pleasure. I shut my eyes and marvel at the slick tightness of her core squeezing my length with such strength that were I a lesser man, I would've came immediately.

As it is, I concentrate on her breathing and the feeling of our hearts pounding together in synch, and the way she whimpers my name until her lips land on my neck.

The pace never gets any faster and it's far more erotic than I'd imagined. I can feel the familiar spring coiling in my stomach and from the way her walls are fluttering, she must be near as well.

I open my eyes and look down at the woman, her raven hair spread over the pillow, sweat dripping down her forehead. "I'm nearly there, Elizabeth."

"Please," She whispers, "I'm yours…only yours…become mine…"

"I am."

She tilts her head back, her mouth wide but no sound issuing forth as the coil snaps, my seed flooding inside of her while her juices wash over our connection and heat covers both of us.

As it dies, I roll off of her body and she cuddles into my side, fingers splayed over my chest. "I'm yours…" Elizabeth whispers, tiredly and happily. "Always…always yours. No matter where you go…or who you go with…just remember…I'm yours."

"I will." I murmur into her hair, "And I'm yours as well. Anytime…any place."

She smiles softly, closing her eyes and laying her head on my chest. Within minutes, she's asleep, and I follow soon after.

…

…

…

**A/N: Kind of short, but I don't think I could go any farther without having to cut it off somewhere strange. To that one person who said there was too much sex:**

**The last story, at this chapter, was in the middle of an orgy. And as I said before, I don't do 'Teen' Rated M-stories. Blood, sex and violence. A story rated M for salty language can suck it. What is 'it', exactly?**

**I'm not telling.**

**So, announcements. I'm going to be looking for a job while also starting on my original story. I've held off on starting because I get the feeling I won't be able to stop when I do and I wanted to finish this chapter.**

**Also, JotWE is at 3,700 words and Shadow of the Remnants is at 7,000, though updates will be sporadic.**

**Wish me luck.**

**Stay Awesome.**

**~Soleneus**

**P.S.: What the fuck is up with people not using a pairing they like because 'it's over used'? So? I'm all for trying new styles, but that is a weak fucking excuse. **

**"Oh, I really like [Character Name] with [Character Name] but it's so over used, so I won't." **

**Bitches! If you like the fucking pairing, use the fucking pairing, don't let the amount of fans for it be some how discouraging! It just means you'll have a fan-base there, ready and waiting to read your shit!**

**And on the flip-side, if you're going to change shit up, _fucking change shit up!_ I can't say how many fucking times I've stopped reading a story because the world they're building isn't any different than the one before, including pairings.**

**For example : In Naruto stories, I fucking hate Kurenai and Asuma, not because I dislike Asuma, but because it's so. Fucking. BORING! Been there, saw that, it's fucking boring so fucking stop it!**

***Sigh* I love seeing creativity and intelligence in stories, and to follow a path that's been tread by thousands of others is boring, tried and staid.**

**So, all I really have to say is this:**

**Unleash Your Fuckin' Imagination.**

**Stay Awesome Some More.**

**~still Soleneus**


	7. A New Adventure Starts

The shrill chime of my alarm pulls me out of the warm, comforting embrace of sleep, but I hold back on moving. Maybe it'll shut off and I can go back to snoozing?

…Except that I set it for seven o'clock so I would be awake by the time I need to meet Zaira. Shit.

Elizabeth shifts in my arms, reaching across my torso to shut the alarm off. As silence fills the room, I run my fingers through her hair and feel her smooth hand stroke my chest.

Eventually, I heave a long sigh. "I should go…"

Her hand stops and I feel a brief puff of air. "…Yeah…"

I've said the words but I'm still not moving. I sigh again and reach down, pushing her chin up so I can see her face, then lean down to press a soft kiss to her lips. "Anytime, anyplace." I say, to remind her of my promise from last night.

Elizabeth flashes a brief smile at me and kisses me back. "You should go." She says, gently pushing on my side.

I slide out of bed and she rolls into my spot to take the remaining warmth. "I'll see you later, alright?"

She nods, eyes closing again as I pick up my clothes and step into the bathroom for a quick shower. When I come out, she's snoring softly, deep asleep.

I press my lips to her cheek, tuck the blankets in around her and take my leave.

…

The ride to C-Sec is short, as the room I spent the night in is one of the expensive Presidium Apartments, though how Elizabeth has it, I can't really say.

C-Sec isn't busy this morning, which is good. A few officers here and there talking to people or tapping away at terminals, but no real hustle and/or bustle.

As I step off the elevator, a hand on my shoulder makes me turn my attention to the owner of that hand. Zaira stands from her lean against the elevator and greets me with a simple, "Good morning."

I quirk an eyebrow. "Really? Is it a good morning for you or for me? Or is it a good morning regardless of what I want this morning to be like?"

She crosses her arms with a small smirk. "It's a good morning because we're going to look at guns and armor."

I perk up and smile. "Oh yeah. Sweet."

Zaira chuckles a little and we set off into C-Sec, drawing a few odd looks from the weapons on our persons, though they look away when they recognize Shepard.

The Gear Master looks up from his terminal. "Ah, Spectre Shepard, I'd been wondering when you would be showing up. I'll give you access to our stocks." He knows what we're here for.

Flicking through the lists, we quickly settle into banter, pointing out interesting armor and weapons.

"Ooh, look at this! Colossus Armor! Aw, but I don't have another N7 badge."

"Couldn't you just detach the one you have?"

"You're right!" Shepard chirps happily before her face falls again as the price comes up. "That would wipe out more than half of the credits I have."

250,000 credits for a suit of heavy armor? Jesus, don't they know a Spectre might need it?

It may drain Shepard's wallet, but I have a lot of funds. My worms are still alive and burrowing, after all. I shrug and tap my terminal, purchasing the suit.

Zaira frowns at me worriedly. "Can you really afford that? It's really expensive."

I smile at her and show her my omni-tool with my credit balance on it. She gasps in shock and I press a finger to my lips. "Let's just say I've made some really good investments over the years."

Her eyes flick to the number, back to the suit and then up to my eyes. A small, shy smile curls her lips and a bit of color enters her cheeks. "Thanks." She murmurs quietly.

"It's not charity, Zaira." I say, nudging her shoulder. "Think of it as…an investment. In keeping you alive. I mean, I can't exactly take you on a date if you die because of shitty armor."

She smiles and starts rifling through the sniper rifle list. "I owe you more than one date, that's for sure."

"Let's wait and see how the first one works out before deciding that," I reply, "I'd rather want to have a second date because we had fun on the first one, not out of some sense of obligation."

"Me too. Ooh! Look at the range on this!"

"Don't all Sniper Rifles have the same range?"

"Well, yeah, but this model shaves the metal into a fine point for a lower drop over a farther distance."

"Nice. And look, there's an Explosive Rounds mod on the market, too."

Zaira's eyes glaze over slightly as she imagines using the two in conjunction. "It'd be like using a long-range grenade launcher."

"What if you have to use it during a hostage situation? It would hurt the hostage as well." I point out.

She gives me a dry look. "Well, I could just, y'know, remove the mod."

That should've occurred to me. "True," I say with a nod. "Imagine using that on someone in low-gravity."

The image of a Geth bouncing into space, flailing and shrieking fills my head and I sink my teeth into my hand to stop myself from giggling. Glancing over at Zaira, she's biting her lip, attempting to stifle her own humor. Our eyes meet and what follows is a brief moment in time when a former PI and the newest Spectre broke down into a fit of muffled, schadenfreude-laden giggles.

After she recovers, Zaira buys a pair of Snipers along with the Explosive Rounds mod along with four Spectre-Advanced Gear VI Assault Rifles for herself, Tara and Ashley, along with one a level lower and a pistol of the same level for Kaidan.

I bought a shotgun for Ashley, along with another and a pistol for Tali, and a similar rifle for Garrus. He has his own sniper and a heavy pistol, and I'm pretty sure Nihlus is kitted out just fine, not to mention Wrex.

Having spent most of her free cash on guns and mods, Zaira turns to me. "I hate to ask, but can you help my buy some armor? I kinda…went overboard on the guns."

I had planned for this, thus the credits in my account. "Sure."

A set of Explorer Heavy Armor for Garrus, followed by a pair of Support Medium armors for Kaidan and Tali, a set of Liberator Medium armor for Tara and a set of Titan Heavy Armor for Ashley, our squad has thus been adequately armed and armored. And my account balance has been drastically lowered. Oh, whatever shall I do except steal more money from rich people? Oh wait…

The Gear Master looks up from his terminal with his eyebrows(?) raised and mandibles spread in surprise. "Well, that's…quite a lot of gear. Where should I send it?"

"Have it sent to Bay 55," Zaira replies easily.

The Gear Master nods and taps in the order. "It will arrive within the hour. Is that all you require today, Spectre Shepard?"

"Yup."

"Have a good day, then."

Bay 55…that's where the Normandy is. "Why are you having all the stuff sent to the Normandy?" I ask as we ascend a few steps.

Zaira shrugs and smiles sheepishly. "Well, there's really nowhere else I can have it dropped off. Plus, Anderson wants to meet us there in a couple of hours."

Probably to give the ship over to her. I think she's thought of that already…clever lady. "Well, since we have time…Do you want to get breakfast?" I ask as we come into C-Sec proper. "I know a good place nearby."

She stops and checks her chrono. "Sure." She flashes a small mischievous smile at me. "This doesn't count as our date, just so you know."

"Pfft, of course not." I wave it off with a pompous tone. "Nothing less than the most fancy, expensive restaurant on the Citadel will do for you, my lady!"

Zaira chuckles and quips back, "I dare say, it better be The Most Fancy Restaurant on The Citadel, or I will be most put-out!"

"Of course," I reply, reaching a new level of pompous-ity. "Why stop there? I'll buy the entire Concert hall in the Bachjret Ward for our date. Even the Citadel Orchestra!"

She turns her nose up, attempting to hold back a smile. "I expect nothing less than the entire Citadel itself as a gift."

Our quiet laughter, and the entire back-and-forth seems to have been disturbing for people around us, who are shooting Zaira strange looks. Can't deal with good humor, it seems.

Zaira pulls ahead, skipping quickly up the steps, which gives me the perfect opportunity to check her out.

She's wearing a light blue hoodie with a white stripe going up the arms, and a pair of tight, dark blue jeans with her pistol attached to her hip and a pair of black shoes. The magnetic holster must be attached directly to her skin.

Which is only a secondary observation to the fact that damn, Zaira has a nice ass. Not to say that the rest of her isn't nice, but it's what I have my eyes on right now. Well-rounded hips that aren't too round and strong legs lead to one good-looking butt.

Zaira looks back at me over her shoulder, face amused at having caught me admiring her rear. "Enjoying the view?" She asks sarcastically.

I nod easily. "Why yes, I am." I answer, stepping through the door leading to the Presidium.

"I knew it," She says dryly. "You're only in this for my body."

"Oh no," I reply in a dead-pan tone. "What ever will I do now that I've been found out?"

I take us to a small café in the Presidium, away from all the Embassies and politicians. We're seated quickly with the menu set out, and it only takes a few minutes to decide on what to get.

Zaira gets a plate of steak and eggs and a stack of pancakes. I get much the same, though with a side of bacon, and both of us get a cup of coffee, black.

"You know," I say, setting aside my mug, "I have a lot of fun, and it's really easy to be around you…but we've know each other for a couple of days at most. Do you think that's strange?"

She sits back in her chair, sipping her coffee. "I was actually thinking about that last night," She admits. I wasn't. "And I don't think you understand what you've done for me."

A questioning look comes over my face. "What I've done for you?"

Zaira chuckles a bit and sets her coffee down, folding her hands over her stomach. "Yeah. I wasn't a very open person after my dad died. I was fifteen and tired of hopping between ships all my life when the message first came. My dad was equally tired of the lifestyle but he had taken the position at mom's insistence, and I had always been closer to him than her."

She leans forward, laying her arms on the table in front of her, slumping slightly. "When the message came, I remember this feeling of emptiness, like I had lost everything. I cut ties with my mom and signed up with the Alliance the next day and went through the pre-enlistment school until I was eighteen. I threw myself into everything, dedicated to being the best soldier I could be so I could hunt down my dad's killers and get revenge."

The waiter comes back and sets our plates down, refilling our coffees before leaving. After a couple bites of her steak, Zaira resumes her story. "I wasn't a very nice person," She admits ruefully, a shallow smile on her face. "If I wasn't studying or working out, I was stewing in my anger and resentment. I've worked with Tara and Kaidan for nearly four years and I'm ashamed to say I don't really know all that much about them. We work well together, sure, but I was so focused on getting revenge that there isn't anything between us."

Zaira shrugs. "Well, there wasn't at least. After I completed my N7 training, Anderson picked me for his crew and after dealing with my angry crap for a couple of months, he took me aside and made me talk to him. The lambasting he gave me…" She shudders with barely repressed trauma. "…It wasn't fun, but it gave me a stark realization: What was there to do after I got my revenge? I had no friends, I didn't even have a mother anymore. There was no one I could rely on."

Silently, I reach across the table and grasp her wrist, trying to show my support quietly. She looks up at me through her cobalt bangs and smiles, shifting her arm to grab my hand in hers. "I opened up to Anderson a little, and I kind of view him like the cool uncle I always wanted, someone not afraid to call me out. But it took meeting you, and fighting you, to really hit me. You, someone I had just met and insulted, humiliated me in front of my team and most of the other people onboard, using my anger against me."

"Zaira-"

Zaira holds up a hand. "Not yet." She admonishes. "After you beat me down, you listened to me, you understood what I was saying. And then, when you were yelling at me, I saw something in your eyes. You believed I could be a better person, you believed in me when only one other person did. I still remember what you said. 'You deserve to move past this. I know you can.'"

The way she's remembering it seems somewhat more…romanticized than I remember it.

"It was…humbling, knowing that someone believes in you even when you don't believe in yourself." Zaira says quietly. "And then you saved me and my team from being captured by pirates. You slaughtered nearly six hundred people in our defense. I mean, I know you did it to protect us and your partner and there wasn't any sort of meaning behind it but that, but can you blame me if I didn't see it differently?" She asks.

"Some who cares for you nearly killing themselves to save you? How could I not? Is it any real surprise that I trust you more than almost anyone else? You get me. It's easy to talk to you, to be near you. I've never felt that before. It's scary, but at the same time, I don't want it to go away." She finishes, squeezing my hand tightly. "So, last night, I came to the conclusion that I don't care if it seems strange. I like you. I like spending time with you. And I want to know you better."

…Wow. Did I…did I really do that much for her? "Have you talked to your mom at all?" Yes, something simple to distract her while I compute all this.

"We reconciled a couple of months of ago. She was blaming herself more than I ever did." Zaira starts talking about her mother and I lose track. The only thing I'm really aware of is the calloused yet soft hand holding mine.

I've been on her squad for a day, and already this one of the most confusing adventures I've ever been a part of. And all of it is due to woman sitting across from me.

The woman with cobalt hair. With the shy, cute smile and expressive yellow eyes. With a gentle grip.

I can't say I like this confusion I'm feeling…but with her, I don't think I mind all that much.

…

An hour passes, and we spend it eating and chatting about nothing, still holding hands. With the meal eaten and coffee consumed, Zaira's omni-tool begins to chime quietly. "Ah, that's the alarm." She announces, letting go of my hand to turn the sound off. "Time to meet Anderson."

We stand and Zaira pays the bill, and as we're walking back to C-Sec, she slips her arm into mine. She looks at me when I glance at her, a small, mischievous smile on her face. And there may have been a slight slowing down of my pace to spend just a little more time with her. Possibly. Maybe.

As the elevator descends, something occurs to me. This is the start of an adventure, one that will take us to the darkest parts of the galaxy. And with this woman at my side, ready to lead us into it, it's the first time I feel confident. Confident that we'll succeed.

It's a nice feeling.

The door slides up and Zaira slides her arm out, standing up a little straighter and approaching the two Ambassadors and Captain Anderson. I know they're giving the _Normandy_ over to Zaira. While they talk, I can see a few of the crew loading crates onto the ship. That must be the gear we bought, plus a few extra things from me.

"We've managed to locate Matriarch Benezia's daughter on Therum, a planet in the system Knossos which is located in the Artemis Tau cluster." Anderson reports, "From what I understand, she's an archaeologist who studies Prothean ruins. She might be able to to point you in the direction of her mother."

"I understand, sir." Shepard nods stiffly.

The older gentleman holds out his hand. "Good luck, Commander. We're all counting on you."

She shakes his hand and determinedly replies, "I won't let you down."

He gives her a half smile. "I know you won't."

The trio leaves, and as the elevator rises, Zaira sighs quietly and slumps just a little. "So?" I ask, sidling up. "How'd it go?"

"Anderson turned the_ Normandy_ over to me," She says, turning to look at the ship. "And we have our first destination."

I nod. "Well, Commander Shepard, are you ready to embark on this epic quest for galactic justice?"

A brief smile flits across her face. "Definitely."

"Then let's go kick some fuckin' ass."

…

I'm down in the cargo hold, tinkering with Invictus. There's one mod slot in the gun and I can't decide on what to put in there. It's a bad-ass gun, but if I make it even more bad-ass, it might create a singularity that makes the universe collapse into one giant worm-hole of pure bad-assery and while that would solve the whole 'Reaper' problem, I'd rather not. I like living.

"Hey." Glancing to the side, I see Ashley as she sidles up to the bench holding her brand-new assault rifle. I obligingly move my stuff into a smaller area to give her room to tinker and she nods in thanks, setting her rifle down and pulling it apart.

Which reminds me, I should check Medusa. She was a little sticky in the trigger and I meant to do something about that earlier, except that I blew up.

I reassemble Invictus and set it aside before pulling Medusa out of my now-permanent locker and bring it to the workbench, swiftly opening it up and scanning the insides.

Ah, there's the problem. The trigger circuit is worn. Easy enough to replace. And the barrel's sort of dusty. I should clean that.

As I set about my work, whistling the Star Wars theme, I notice that Ashley keeps glancing at me. After the fourth time in a minute, I set the circuit aside and look to her. "Yeees? Can I help you?"

"I'm just wondering about you," she says easily. "I can't say I really know you."

"Most people don't." I reply with a small grin. "I like it. It makes me mysterious."

Ash gives me a dry look. "I don't like mysteries."

I snort. "Yeah, and you probably wear white underwear."

"W-what?" She sputters, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, the only people who wear white underwear are kids…and boring adults." I say factually.

Ashley splutters some more, weapon forgotten. "I am not boring!" She finally says loudly.

I give her a knowing glance and a wink. "Uh-huh."

"I'm not!"

"I 'know'."

"I'm not boring!"

"I'm agreeing with you."

She huffs and turns back to her gun. "You're an ass."

"Which means I get the girl in the end." I announce triumphantly. "The asses always do, for some reason."

Whatever Ashley is preparing to say is lost when the PA crackles to life. _"This is Commander Shepard speaking."_ Zaira's smooth voice flows through the ship, _"We have our orders: find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't lie, crew, this mission won't be easy. For too long, we've stood apart from the other species. It's time to do our part for the rest of the Galaxy! Time to show them what we're made of, what we are all capable of doing together. Our enemy knows we're coming, and they won't go down without a fight. We need to do this. Not just for humanity, but for every species in Citadel Space. We must stop him…and I promise you all, we will succeed!"_

Fucking inspiring, man. I have to wipe a manly tear of pride for the bad-ass speech away from my eye.

"So…" Ashley starts, fiddling with a bit of wiring. "Do you really think we can do this?"

"We can do this. We will do this. We've got the team, we've got the ship, and we've got the leader. Saren doesn't stand a chance." I reply with confidence.

The Gunny looks at me searchingly before nodding in agreement.

…

I cleaned and repaired Medusa for a bit before hopping in the elevator and taking it up two floors to the rec area. There's someone I need to introduce Zaira to.

After five freaking minutes in the elevator, I step out and turn to go to the Captain's Cabin when I spot a few crewmen hooking up the new, much bigger, roomier and less full of shit fridge, which has enough food stocked to last us for a good couple of months. Stocked with real, edible, food.

Glancing through the glass partition, I can also see Chakwas talking with Chloe, comparing notes or whatever. Garrus and Nihlus are at the table, discussing something while eating off of trays full of Turian food. Wrex has a corner all to his crimson-armored self with what appears to be a full loaf of bread cut in half and stuffed with meat. And maybe half a leaf of lettuce. And there's Kaidan, fiddling with his locker for some reason. And I saw Tara talking with Tali in Engineering.

Stopping at the door, I knock three times and wait. It slides open, allowing me inside. Zaira's at her terminal, typing something up, and looks up at me. "Do you need something?"

I step inside, closing and locking the door behind me. "I do, actually. There's someone I want you to meet, but first…you have to promise to not freak out, okay?"

She blinks quickly before her eyes narrow on me. "…Alright. Who?"

I extend my arm, palm up. My omni-tool flares, lighting the room with a bright orange glow, which is over-taken by jade green. Streams of data flow out of my palm, coalescing to form into a slim, attractive body.

"Hi." Jade greets shyly.

…

…

**A/N: Well, that didn't take too long, surprisingly, even though I did start my original story. Maybe I'm just that damn good?**

**Pfft, more like ADD.**

**Anyways, notes:**

**It's been my intention, since the start of the story to pair Saul and Zaira together, even when I didn't have a fully-formed Shepard like I do now. It's not going to be an immediate thing, I want to make it fully realized romance. They already like and trust each other, it's just now getting Saul (who has secrets of galactic importance) and Zaira, who has to get acclimated to being open and the Commander Shepard everyone likes. Well, most everyone. A mix of Paragon and Renegade, but then again, real life doesn't have arbitrary Karma Meters. And they won't admit it right out. Love is confusing, man.**

**Plus, Saul and Zaira are similar, but not the same. It'll be apparent later, I swear, though a good one right now is disassociation. When she's in her armor with her gun in her hand, she's Commander Shepard, first human Spectre and N7 Soldier. Outside of her armor, she's Zaira, a lady who likes her guns, gadgets and action.**

**Inside and outside of his armor, Saul is still Saul.**

**This Disassociation thing will be really important later on.**

**But for now, that's all from me today.**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy.**

**Stay Awesome.**

**~Soleneus**

**P.S.: Much like I imagine Jade sounding like Angel from Borderlands, I don't really imagine Zaira sounding like Jennifer Hale. Not that I don't love her voice! It sounds like vocal smoke and sex, and I like it. Maybe a younger Jennifer Hale? Without an English accent. I don't know.**

**Stay Awesome Some More.**

**~still Soleneus**


	8. Trying Out Some New Equipment

Zaira slowly blinked once, twice. "…Hi." She finally said before locking eyes with me. "Who is she? And more importantly, _what_ is she?"

At least she's not freaking out, which is good. For now, anyway. "This is Jade. She's my AI."

She points at Jade questioningly. "_That_'s an AI?"

I nod. "She."

"For some reason, I thought she would be bigger than this." She says to herself.

What? "Why? Good things come in small packages, no innuendo." Why was she expecting Jade to be bigger?

"Well, yeah, but she's green."

"How does that even make sense?"

Jade shyly ducks her head, hiding her face behind a curtain of green hair. "Would you stop staring? You're making me nervous!"

"Sorry," Zaira apologizes, bending down to look at her closely. "It's just…you're so small!"

"Okay, your apparent fascination with Jade's size aside, why aren't you asking me where I got her? And why were you expecting her to be bigger?" I ask seriously.

"Well, I did let Anderson know I asked you to join us yesterday," She replies easily, shrugging her shoulders. "He told me about her and I decided to let you tell me. And while I'm suspicious of having an AI onboard, I do trust you. But…"

Zaira grabs my wrist, bringing my hand and the small woman on it, up to her narrowed yellow eyes. "If you do anything to harm my squad, I'll crush your chip with my bare hands."

While Jade is leaning back in surprise at the threat, I speak up. "That wouldn't be a good idea." I turn my back towards Shepard and point at the marble-sized orb of energy implanted at the back of my skull. "That's Jade's physical body, which is implanted into my brain stem. Ripping her out would probably kill me, or at the least make me a quadriplegic."

I turn back to Zaira, who has an eyebrow raised. "Huh. Well, that takes the weight out of my threat." She gives Jade a questioning look. "Is there anything else back there besides you?"

"There's myself, a custom-made Biotic Amp and an Artificial Adrenaline Module." Jade lists off quickly. "In conjunction with those, my body can also be used as a Quantum Entanglement Communications relay, though it's not very powerful."

I just remembered the Adrenaline Mod. There are a lot of times that would've come in handy. Except that… "I don't know how to use that." I say out loud.

"You don't?" Zaira perks up. "I could teach you how. It's standard issue for N7 Marines."

I smile and nod. "That would be bitchin', actually. I'll owe you something."

Zaira looks up in thought. "I'll let you know when I think of something." She glances back at me and Jade. "Is there anything else you need to talk about? I set our course for Therum. We'll be there in 26 hours and I'm reading up on the terrain."

I shake my head as she slides back into her chair. "Nope." Jade dissolves into streams of data and I shut my omni-tool off, nodding to Shepard as I exit.

Garrus and Nihlus appear to be done with their food; Good, I could use extra-pair of hands with the mod-job on the jetpacks. "Garrus, come with me. I need your help."

The blue-painted Turian looks up from his conversation with interest. "Really? On what?"

"I brought a complement of jetpacks on board that need to be modified." I explain, tapping my knuckles on the table. "I need to specially modify a couple for you and Nihlus here; they were built for human use and I'll have to adjust them to your Turian physiology."

"Alright," He nods, pushing away from the table and setting his tray near the sink, turning to Nihlus. "See you later."

The older Turian nods and goes back to his food as we head for the elevator. "Soo…" Garrus starts, tapping his foot on the floor. "Chloe told me you were the one to point Nihlus in my direction."

"Yup." I say simply, popping the 'p'.

"…Thanks."

"No problem."

Stepping out into the cargo hold, I grab a large white crate and drag it over to the workbench, popping the top and setting one of the triangular jetpacks on top.

"That…doesn't look like the jetpack you have." He points out.

"I did say I modified mine." With nanobots, but same difference.

The packs I pulled off of the Jet-Setters are triangular, with the angles blunted to fit on a person's back. The one I took off the leader, which Jade and I modified, is a circular pack that glows blue when I use it. Not all that stealthy, yes, but then again, _I'm_ not stealthy. I mean, I can when I want to, but I generally don't want to.

Cracking open the casing reveals the internal wiring and engine, all of it kind of dusty from disuse. "Alright, first things first." I say, mostly to myself but loud enough for Garrus to hear. "Clean all this crap up, then modify."

…

The next four hours go by rather quickly.

Firstly, I cleaned out packs, which was boring as all hell. That was followed by removing several redundant systems that simply sucked power and replacing them with shit that actually worked.

The jetpacks for the human squad members are done first, as we are the more numerous of the team, and it's simply repetition at this point. Without nanobots, yeah, but it's pretty simple. Plus an extra one. Who knows when you'll need a spare jetpack…say, for the last teammate? Like the one we're going to get right now?

…You get the point.

Next is the pair of Nihlus and Garrus. Turians, as a species, are less flexible than humans with their plate-like exo-skeletal structures, which means some of the dodge maneuvers that require a swift flip or a quick twist are simply not possible or would look fuckin' ridiculous. I mean, I'm not going to tell them that until they figure it out for themselves.

After filming them, naturally.

Anyway, that was a simple fix: instituting a simple shortcut that fires off the jets in short, violent burst that makes them dodge out of the way of incoming fire. Strafing, if you want it simplified.

Next was Tali's, who I really should talk to. She's just so cute! Plus, she probably could help with this. Note to self, after last pack, find Tali.

Again, anyway: It's a simple modification to the already existing human packs, though modified further. Quarians are generally lighter then their human counter-parts; you could never exactly call them hardy folk, even when they didn't live inside of their suits.

So it was a simple deal to modify the power output. Whereas one burst would send a human short distance up and forward, the same burst by Tali would send her much higher and much farther.

As I said, simple stuff.

And then came Wrex's pack. Where Tali is just all around lighter in general, Wrex is the exact opposite. That hump, plus the scales, plus the extra set of organs makes for a pretty heavy sumbitch, not to mention the muscle.

I had to cannibalize a separate jetpack for parts to increase power output but even that didn't solve the problem all the way. With his weight, an extended jaunt into the air is just not viable, especially in combat. The increased power draw would drain the batteries within twenty seconds, so he'll just have to settle for having a Jump-Jet rather than a jetpack.

Although...he is a biotic. With some creative self-usage of Lift or Pull, that time could be widely extended. Another note, talk to Wrex.

Setting the last jetpack aside, I push my hands to the roof and stretch, hearing the joints in my back pop quickly. With a sigh, I open up my omni-tool and direct a call to Shepard upstairs.

"_Yes?"_ She replies tiredly.

"Hey, Shep. I'm done modifying the jetpacks, now I just need to integrate them into the armor." I say, explaining the situation. "Can you send Wrex down here? Also, after we're done with that, I need the entire squad down here for a quick demonstration."

"_Alright, I'll get the big guy down there. Anything else?"_

"Yeah, actually. I'd prefer it if we found an empty but hospitable planet for some training, get everyone used to using the packs." Because using untested, unusual equipment in the field is fucking retarded.

Zaira sighs on the other side. _"That'll have to be done after we find Dr. T'Soni, Saul. This is actionable intel and we need to follow this first of all."_

Well, shit. "Alright, that makes the demonstration more important and I'll have to restrict usage of the packs to short jumps and rushes."

"_That makes sense,"_ She says, _"Let me know when you're done and I'll gather everyone in the cargo area."_

"Will do. Dewitt, out." Always wanted to say that casually. "Garrus, can you start unpacking the armor out of the lockers? We'll start with the human's armor first. I'm going to grab Tali and see if she can help us out."

The Turian nods and gets to finding the armor while I stride over to Engineering and walk in. There's Engineer Adams, looking over a datapad and a couple of other humans doing Engineering stuff and Tali, tapping at a terminal and glancing up at the Tantalus Drive Core and the wave of Mass Effect energy that washes over it every three seconds.

"Hey, Tali." I greet, approaching her from behind.

She jumps, emitting a short squeak and spinning around to face me while pressing back against the console behind her. "Ah! Don't sneak up like that!" She admonishes me, patting her chest.

I wasn't exactly being stealthy, but okay. "Alright, I'll try to be louder. Say, you're good with electronics, right?"

Her glowing eyes blink behind her mask. "Well, I'm not that bad with tech."

Adams scoffs. "She's pointed out three flaws in the Drive Core and had patches ready within the hours she's been here. 'Not that bad' is a lie."

Tali brings a hand up, rubbing it against her faceplate nervously. "D-Do you need something?"

"Yeah, I'm working on integrating jetpacks into everyone's suits and I'd like your help." I say easily. "Speaking of, I'm glad you haven't put yours on yet. I don't think anyone would be comfortable with someone standing behind them, welding something to their back."

"Uh, m-my suit?" She stutters in surprise.

"Yeah, we got you a new one this morning while we were out shopping." That's not creepy, is it? "I hope you don't mind."

Tali shakes her head. "N-no, I don't mind…thank you."

I give her a smile and a nod. "Not a problem. Can you help me?"

"Oh! Um…" She looks to Adams, who nods his head.

"Go on, I've got you covered. It's not like you did my job or made it easier or anything." He says with easy sarcasm.

I'm pretty sure she blushes under that faceplate…and there's the rubbing of the cheek. Yup, totally blushing. "Let's get started." I say, motioning for her to follow me into the cargo area.

As we come back, Garrus is at the worktable, messing with Kaidan's detached chest piece. "Where do you want the power cell to be placed?" He asks, flipping the plate over in his hands.

"Just above the shield generator." I reply, "We'll carve a chunk out of the back, hollow it out, place the power cell in the hole, cover it back up, drill a smaller hole and connect the cell to the pack, not in that order."

We get down to work, myself cutting the small chunks out of the armor and hollowing them out; Garrus drilling the holes and placing the power cells; Tali connecting the cells to the packs and attaching them to the armor.

With our little assembly line, it's quick and easy to do all the human armor, followed by the Turian armor, though we did have to modify Tali's a bit. As she lives and fights in her Enviro-suit, the extra bulk of the jetpack would make sleeping difficult.

It's easily solved by attaching an adherence patch onto the bottom frame of her jetpack, allowing her to detach-and-reattach it at will. There could be some problems later on if the attaching parts aren't clean, but come on, she's a Quarian. Keeping their tech clean is like species-wide OCD.

The only one left is Wrex, and speaking of the scaly Krogan Battlemaster…

"Wrex!" I call as he emerges from the elevator to take up his little spot next to the lockers. "I need to see your chest plate."

He lifts a scaly eyebrow…thing and approaches us. "Really?" He drawls in his deep, raspy voice. "And why is that?"

I point to the other chest plates, all replete with jetpacks. "I'm adding jetpacks to everyone's armor. It should give us an edge in the field, and come on, man…fuckin' jetpacks."

"Heh." Wrex 'heh's. "I can see the advantages, but why are you doing this?"

I look up at him, feeling the added gaze of Tali on my face. "I'm not getting paid, if that's what you're asking." I mutter, finishing the final adjustment on Shepard's pack. "I can't say I know everyone on the squad, but I definitely don't want them to die from something easily avoidable, not when I have the materials to prevent it. Simply that."

And the enjoyment I'll get from watching a bunch of noobs learning how to use their jetpacks for the first time. That'll be fucking hilarious.

But they don't need to know that.

Wrex eyes me for a bit, before shrugging his shoulders and releasing the clasps holding his crimson armor together. He sets the heavy plate in my arms and pulls on some sort of shirt as we get to work on it.

We'll have to set the pack under his hump, if that wasn't obvious. It takes a bit of effort to carve a chunk out of his armor, as it's much thicker and heavier than most of the others, about the same as Shepard's Colossus armor.

I notice, as we attach the cell and the pack itself, that Wrex seems to be watching me with a searching eye.

As we're finishing up, he suddenly speaks up. "You're a strange human."

I nod in agreement. "I've been told that before. Why are you bringing this up?"

He shrugs mightily. "I just find it funny. You, a human, working with a Turian and a Quarian on a Krogan's armor. You don't seem to be nervous at all."

I turn to him and quirk an eyebrow. "Why would I be? I can't say I particularly care if you guys are aliens or whatever. You're just people to me. And people are people, no matter how cute they sound-not talking about you, Garrus, shut up!-so I don't have any problems."

I roll my shoulders and crack my neck with short yawn. "People are people, and aliens are people. They get born, they live, and they die like everyone else, they just look different doing it."

Wrex chuckles and shakes his head. "I'll have to use that."

"Go ahead. Bitch on a stick, look at the time! I didn't know it was so damn late!" I say loudly after checking my chrono. "Time flies when you're having fun, huh?"

More like time flies when you're doing boring but necessary shit.

"Now that you mention it," Garrus grunts, cracking his back as he stands. "It's is pretty late. You think we can get some…rack time, as the humans call it?"

"Hopefully soon, but first I need everyone down here so I can demonstrate how to use these." I reply. "Tali, can you go get changed into your new suit? I think if you ask Dr. Chakwas, she'll clear out the med-bay and seal it for you."

"Oh, alright." The young Quarian gathers her new enviro-suit in her arms and trots off to the elevator.

"Alright, Wrex, put this back on. If it's uncomfortable, we can make some adjustments." I say, holding his heavy plate out to him.

The Battlemaster pulls his shirt off and starts putting the armor back on, with Garrus doing the same. As they're doing that, I open up my omni-tool and call Zaira.

As they're doing that, I open up my omni-tool and call Zaira.

"_Yes?"_

"Hey Shep, we're all done down here." I relay, tapping my foot against my armor. "Demonstration time."

"_Alright, we'll be down in a few."_

I close my tool as my armor stands up and unfolds, allowing me to slide inside. The plates are locking into place when the PA crackles. _"Shepard to ground team, meet in the cargo hold in five."_

The helmet hisses as it closes, and I don't let the view turn on; I'm only going to be in my armor for a few minutes. And while I'm at it, I switch off the external speakers as well.

"Jade, how did the transfer of ownership of go?" I ask, running a program that will modify my jetpack controls.

"_It's all done, the _Ardat _is now Io's…Are you alright with giving that away?" _She asks with concern. _"I know how important that ship was to you."_

"I'll be fine," I sigh. "It wouldn't be used right now, and I'll get a ship out of the deal. I'm not done trying to find Tela, but I don't need anymore reminders. Medusa is enough."

There's a minute of silence. I liked the _Ardat_, and it served me well, but I'll be on the _Normandy_ for awhile and it'd be better for someone to use it. The fact that Io is building me a ship…if it's anything like Invictus, it'll be worth it.

"Anyway, how's that program you're building? Is it ready for field testing?"

The short tingle is what amounts to 'perking up' for my AI. _"I can't be sure until I use it on an actual Geth platform, but the simulations look good!"_ She says excitedly.

I can't stop the small smile from spreading across my face, though an errant thought halts its progress. "Are you sure about this? I mean, taking over a robot's body and using it to kill other robots?"

"_I…what do you mean?" _She asks unsurely.

"Does it make you feel…nervous?" I guess, scratching the side of my helmet.

Jade pauses for a second. _"No."_ She replies crisply. _"They're trying to kill you. That means that they're free game as far as I'm concerned."_

That sounds like something I would say. 'I like you, so anyone who tries to kill you is going to be murdered.'

…Jade likes me?

…

…That's not surprising, now that I think about it. We've spent close to a year with one another, it was only a matter of time.

"Thanks, Jade. I'd kill people for you too." I reply warmly, trying to force my feelings into my words.

It seems to work as the 'blush' tingle radiates from the back of my skull, and her presence withdraws a bit.

My visor splits as the elevator arrives and disgorges the squad, with Tali in her new armor. Her light blue stuff wasn't bad, but I like this new stuff better, and if the pep in her step is any indication, she does too.

It's got better armor, replacing the synth-leather or whatever the hell her other stuff was made out of with smooth, flexible plates of armor, mostly colored red and purple. She kept her lavender and white shawl, which is draped over her helmet and tied around her hips.

I think she looks nice, anyway.

"Alright, people, let's get this armor onto you and get on with the demo." I say, clapping my hands together.

The three of us (Tali, Garrus and myself) help the rest of the squad get on the modified armor. After, they stand around, rolling their shoulders and adjusting themselves.

"Comfortable?" I ask, standing in front of them.

Zaira tilts her head with a grimace of discomfort. "It's weird wearing armor over clothes."

What does that mean?

…Never mind, it's better in my head.

"Before I get started, who here is left-handed?" Tara raises her hand, as does Nihlus. "Which hand do you use to fire weapons?"

"Ambidextrous." Nihlus answers shortly.

"Right hand." Tara says.

Okay then. "First things first: Safety. Don't use your jetpack in tight spaces." I say. "Common sense. Second, since we don't have time to train you up, for this upcoming mission, I'm restricting all of you to short jumps and dodge maneuvers, no hovering for more than ten seconds."

Tara looks disappointed, but understanding, as do the others. "Now, controls." I continue. "Every pack is controlled through specific twitches. My control-scheme is mapped to my back, but yours is mapped to your left hand."

I hold up my left hand for emphasis, then wiggle my fingers for even more emphasis. "The controls are pretty simple. Do this to hover." I spread my fingers slightly and the pack on my back flares to life, lifting me from the floor to hover in the air. "Tilt your wrist in the direction you want to go in," I shift my hand to the left and I float to the left. It's like magic!

"And that's basically it." I conclude. "We can get into more later. But right now, I want everyone to try hovering."

Watching the group of humans and aliens trying to hover is just as funny as I thought it would be. Garrus gets a little too excited and slams into the ceiling, falling back to the floor with a grunt.

Kaidan gets taken by surprise and throws his hand back, causing him to back-flip into the closed elevator. Shepard stumbles without going into the air, bumping into Ashley and making her sit down on the rising Garrus' back. Wrex rises like a bubble, gently bumping into the ceiling before settling down on the floor.

Tara is slowly drifting up and forwards until she bounces off the Mako. Tali hasn't gone into air yet, as she appears to be looking at something on her omni-tool.

Nihlus rises off the ground steadily, hovering for a few seconds and easily coming back down. Disappointing.

After a few minutes of fuck-ups, everyone is hovering around the room, and even the crusty old Krogan is wearing a smile.

I am so fucking glad I recorded all of this.

I clap my hands twice. "Alright, children, time to come down!"

They power down and land quickly. "That's really fun!" Zaira says with a grin. "How do you not do this all the time?"

I laugh. "The first week I acquired mine, I spent every free moment flying around. Judging by the smiles, you guys like using the jetpacks?"

Enthusiastic nods are what I receive. "Good, good. I'll send you all a data packet with maintenance notes and maneuvers."

…

After a quick dinner of _actual fucking food_, it's bedtime. Shifts have been worked out for the squad and on-board personnel, and I should get about seven hours of sleep.

'Should' being the operative term, as what I'm supposed to sleep in is the black glass coffin the Alliance calls 'Sleeper Pods'.

I've just been staring at the damn thing, trying to work up my courage and step inside.

Taking a deep, bracing breath, I close my eyes, step up and turn around as the door closes. It hisses as it seals.

Deep breaths. Deeep breaths. It's not a coffin. It's not a coffin drifting through the blackness of space, all alone and lonely, it's unknowing occupants unaware if what they're drifting towards is a sun or a planet, or even another ship…

"Saul?" Jade asks in concern. "Are you okay? Your heart rate is elevated."

I open my eyes and look down at my omni-tool, Jade having manifested herself there, looking up at me with worry. "I'm alright," I murmur, definitely not panic-sweating. "I'm just a little…claustrophobic."

Jade looks away, somewhat guiltily.

"I don't mind being in my armor so much," I'm quick to reassure her. "Mostly because it doesn't exactly feel like a god-damn coffin…"

Oh god, coffins…not-a-coffin, not-a-coffin.

Jade bites her lip, looking somewhat frustrated and still kind of guilty, for some reason. "I'm here, okay? If you need to talk to me…"

I do my best to smile at her, though if her reaction is any indication, it didn't work. "I'll be alright."

She looks at me pensively and dissipates, a warm tingle spreading through my skull in relaxing waves.

I close my eyes again and take deep, slow breaths, just letting the waves wash over me and carry my mind away.

…

…

…

Where am I? Why can't I see? What the hell is going on here?! There's cold glass in front of me and inches of space to my sides. Am I in a coffin?

Fuck, where am I? I don't…

Panic floods my body like a tidal wave as I press my hands against the glass and it doesn't budge.

My heart thunders in my chest, my lungs contract and I can't breathe and why are the walls closing in on me?! It's too dark, too cramped and let me out!

Let me out! Let me out, let me out, let me out!

I can't get out.

I can't get out.

I'm trapped here. In the dark. Alone. With the walls closing in on me like the inexorable grip of some titan.

Letmeout-letmeout-letmeoutLETMEOUT-LETMEOUT_LETMEOUT!_

Air hisses as the door rises and I spill onto the floor, gasping for breath and shaking, my whole body trembling as I curl into the fetal position on the cold metal.

I am never doing that again. Ever.

It takes several minutes, but I finally manage to calm my racing thoughts and rampaging heart.

"Fuck that." I wheeze, pushing myself to my feet unsteadily.

There's nowhere else to sleep, and I am _not_ going back into that thing. I could sleep on the table or something, or maybe grab a bed in the med-bay…

…Zaira has a bed. In her room, all to herself.

Maybe…?

It's better than nothing. I hope she doesn't freak out, though you never know…and if she does, well, I can't feel pain. I do hope she lets me explain myself.

Sneaking over to her door, even though there's no one else down here, I quickly open up my omni-tool and hack the lock. The door cracks open and I sidle inside, closing and re-locking it, leaving myself a back door.

Zaira's curled up on her bed, a thin, sheet-like blanket covering her form. The bed itself is slightly bigger than a twin, just big enough to fit two people.

I gently poke her in the back, whispering, "Scooch."

She mutters a bit in her sleep and shuffles a little. I slide in next to her, turning on my side so our backs are touching and pull a bit of the blanket over myself. I even get a bit of pillow, too. Bonus.

It's not cuddling, but it'll do. Already, I can feel the world fading away…

…

…

…

**A/N: Well, there you go, the next chapter of Still Not a Hero. Next time, the squad finally makes it to Therum, dammit. I meant to this chapter, but I didn't. Too much stuff. Ah well, who would complain about too much content?**

**I would.**

**Not this, necessarily, but I hate stories that take forever to establish shit. Like, if a story is twenty chapters of just training, something you could fit into montage, or compress it into two chapters…yeah, no. See ya, and thanks for all the fish!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this installment of Still Not A Hero. Why don't you leave a review and tell me how you liked it?**

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**Stay Awesome.**

**~Soleneus**

**P.S.: I'm not sure when JotWE will be updated, but it won't be a year. Seriously, you guys. And gals.**

**Stay Awesome Some More.**

**~Still Soleneus**


	9. Is There A Doctor in the House?

The first thing Zaira noticed when she came back to the world was a strange sense of warmth and comfort. For a minute, she just stared at the ceiling of her cabin in confusion, sluggishly wondering why she just wanted to curl up with the warm thing and go back to sleep. That had honestly never happened before.

Finally, she blinked and looked down, freezing when her nose brushed against a head of light-brown hair.

She didn't panic, scream or lash out; she was a woman, yes, but she was a soldier, and a damn good one at that.

The first thing Zaira did was feel her body. She still had clothes on and she didn't feel any different, so nothing sexual happened.

She was laying on her back, and the person holding onto her lacked breasts, so it was a guy; their legs were tangled together, his left arm over her stomach and his right under neck, with his face pressed against the side of her neck.

Then the man shifted and mumbled something, and Zaira knew who it was: Saul. Only he had that voice.

Shepard frowned to herself. What the hell was Saul doing in her bed? And why wasn't she aware of him being in it in the first place?

The second question was answered easily: Saul was easily the person she was most comfortable around, and that apparently extended to sleeping as well. She hadn't felt this rested since…ever, really.

Unconsciously, she began to run her fingers through his hair, and found that it was oddly soft. The oddity stemmed from the man himself. Even with his easy jokes and penchant for one-liners for no discernable reason except, possibly, a damaged mental state, there was always a hardness about him. Even when he smiled, there was a tightness about his face that only someone with rigorous training and life-or-death experiences could see, and she had both.

Zaira slowly pushed herself up onto her pillow, making Saul slide down her chest to the point his bristly chin brushed against the top of her breasts, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and looking down at his face.

In that position, it was more like she was cradling him.

Zaira admired his features as he slept. The softness of sleep really did make him look almost boyishly handsome, as opposed to the sharp features and harsh shadows that made him both intimidating and alluring at the same time. Brutally handsome, maybe?

It was helped by the thin, silvery scars around his left eye, those enhanced by the somewhat inhuman glow of the jade-green cybernetic orb.

However you presented it, Saul Dewitt was an interesting man.

But, not matter how interesting he was, or how comfortable he was to hold in her arms, he better have a damn good reason for sneaking into her bed. Especially when she was unaware.

Speak of the devil…

Saul's breathing pattern changed and he shifted, sniffing softly before freezing, experimentally squeezing her stomach before sighing. "Dammit." He muttered softly.

Apparently, he hadn't expected to cuddle up to her when he went to sleep, and that earned him some points.

Like, three, at least.

Zaira ran her hand through his hair again and went stiff, his eye snapping open and rolling up to look at her, his face carefully blank.

That was probably as close as Saul got to the 'deer-in-the-headlights' look. "Sooo…" She drawled, quirking an eyebrow. "You'd better have a good reason for this."

He looked up at her blankly, blinking, before heaving a hard sigh and slumping, something that didn't seem possible for someone lying down.

She resisted the urge to giggle as he turned his mouth on to her chest and mumbled something. "I didn't catch that." Zaira said, shaking his shoulder.

"I…" He swallowed, and she felt more than saw his jaw clench. "I'm…claustrophobic."

Shepard frowned slightly. It was a rather common problem, why was it so hard for him to admit?

"I can't…I can't sleep in closed spaces…I have panic attacks." Saul admitted somewhat angrily, though that anger wasn't directed at her.

Ah, she understood now. He was angry at himself for having that problem. "That doesn't exactly explain why you're in my bed." Zaira pointed out dryly.

He sighed again. "It's hard for me to sleep alone, okay? Combine that with my panic attack…I wasn't exactly thinking straight when I decided to come in here. If it helps, I didn't mean to cuddle you, it just…kinda happened."

Dismay and regret was an odd thing to hear in Saul's voice, usually all confidence and humor. It wasn't something Zaira liked.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Shepard." He mumbled, making to pull away.

Zaira tightened her arms around him, holding his body to hers as she grimaced. And there it was again; her goddamn last name! Everyone called her Shepard! Everyone! It's like she didn't even have a fucking first name! And coming from Saul, one of three she trusted with it, she knew it was his way of being impersonal, creating emotional distance between them; and after more than thirteen years of impersonality, she'd had more than enough of it.

So, she hugged him tightly and said one thing. "Don't."

Saul stopped and tried to look up at her, but she held his head, unwilling to let him see the sudden influx of furious tears coming to her eyes. "Uh, Shep-"

"Zaira."

"…what?"

"Call me Zaira."

He paused, swallowing nervously. "Zaira?"

Zaira relaxed her grip and quickly wiped her eyes, all too aware of the sudden wetness.

Saul looked up at her, a worried frown on his face. "It bothers you, being called 'Shepard' all the time, doesn't it?"

Damn him for being so perceptive. "Yeah." She replied shortly.

He stared at her, unblinking, for several seconds. "Sorry." He murmured, squeezing her gently.

They laid in silence, simply holding and looking at each other. "You're very comfortable," Saul said suddenly, smiling a little, "Makes for a very nice pillow."

His comment caught Zaira off guard and she chuckled, "Yeah, well, you make for a pretty good bed-mate."

They laughed until the connotations of that sunk in; then, they couldn't look at each other.

Zaira cleared her throat and checked her omni-tool. "We've got about three hours until we drop on Therum, we should probably get ready."

Saul withdrew and slid out of bed, sheepishly rubbing his cheek and avoiding looking at her. She did only wear a pair of boxer-briefs and a sports bra to bed, after-all.

As she cracked open her foot locker for her Alliance fatigues, a rather timid question came from Saul, standing near her door.

"Hey, uh, Zaira," He started, briefly meeting her eyes. "If it's not too…forward…can we do this again?"

Shepard blinked in surprise and quickly ran over the facts in her head. She liked Saul. She liked sleeping with Saul. He obviously liked sleeping with her. She wanted to possibly build a relationship with him. He was obviously open to that idea.

Zaira smiled at him and nodded. "Sure."

He grinned at her and winked before stepping out into the rec area.

…

I can't believe that fucking worked.

I didn't expect violence; life's not a fucking anime, but I certainly didn't expect Zaira to be that open about sleeping together, even non-sexually.

Which might be a bit of problem, now that I think about it. I'm a sexual being; I'm not used to waking up next to someone fully clothed and sorta sticky; well, not anyone besides Elizabeth and Miranda.

There are a couple of cute ladies among the crew, not mentioning Tara, Ashley and Tali, though I'm hesitant about doing…something with them. It's not like I'll be working closely with them or anything; that's pretty much limited to the squad, but having someone pissed at me and being on the same ship with them for however long this journey will be is not a pretty idea.

Plus, the lack of privacy. There is like, nowhere else besides Shepard's cabin that is private enough for sex, except, maybe, the storage area in the med-center.

We'll be stopping by civilized areas eventually. I can get some relief there.

I think it might be interesting, building a relationship like this. I mean, with Tevos, it started off sexual, and it still is with Aria; Kaia and I is in Purgatory and I doubt I'll see Miranda for awhile. With Zaira…I'll get sex elsewhere, until she's ready for full-on intimacy, if she's ready. Something could happen, you never know.

Though I sincerely hope nothing happens.

That might make the whole 'getting sex elsewhere' thing a problem. I'll present it to her after 'we' progress some more, before I do anything. Fuck, the last thing I want to do is hurt Zaira.

And now I sound like a bitch. Great.

Women.

I quickly whip up some eggs and sausage for breakfast and set on some coffee as the pods crack open and a mix of crew and squad pile out to take over; the crew to run the computers and shit and the squad to drop and do some dangerous, fun shit.

Wrex didn't get a sleeper pod. He wouldn't fit at all, so he just napped in his spot in the Cargo Hold.

As more people wake up, others start whipping up breakfast as well while the others just coming off of their shifts are downing pre-sleepytime snacks.

I pass Garrus and Nihlus as they go to the fridge with Tali behind them. "There's actual dextro food in there," I say before turning to Tali apologetically. "I did get food tubes for you, though."

She draws back and shifts her shoulders; a Quarian grimace of disgust. Living in suits definitely makes visual expression hard, so they compensated with body expression.

"Don't worry," I assure her, "I've got a friend on the Citadel who makes very good nutrient paste. Or, so I'm told. I haven't actually tried it, but I've heard good things."

Tali perks up and grabs a tube before sitting across from me with Tara, quickly uncapping the tube and sticking it in her port. That sounds weird.

"Hmmm!" She hums happily, "It tastes like actual food!"

After that, breakfast is quickly consumed and Shepard gets down to business. "Our mission is simple; retrieve Dr. T'Soni from a Prothean dig site on the planet Therum. This is a simple grab-and-go, and while we don't know if the doctor is working with Matriarch Benezia and Saren, we do expect a Geth presence." She explains, looking at the gathered squad members. "As this is retrieval, I'm only taking a small team down with me in the Mako. Ashley, you and I will be on point."

The Gunny nods. "Understood, Shepard."

Zaira nods back and turns to the Quarian in our group. "Tali, you're support, I want you disabling the Geth we come across, and if you can, hacking their memory cores, we need info."

She nervously wrung her hands, but sounds determined. "I'll do my best."

"Good." Zaira points to me. "Saul, you're the heavy on this. I want the big guys to go down quickly."

I flash a grin at her. "My specialty."

"The rest of you, you'll be on call. If we need support, I'll have the _Normandy_ drop you off." She finishes, glancing at the other members.

The four of us jump into the elevator and take it down to the cargo hold. As it descends, _slowly_, I notice Tali is quietly shuffling and wringing her hands. "Hey." I nudge her in the side with my elbow, getting her attention as the door slides open. "You'll do fine. Trust your skills, equipment and teammates. We've got your back…what the hell are you doing?"

The last part is directed at Zaira and Ashley, who have stripped out of their fatigues, down to their underwear and are now pulling on skin-tight black bodysuits for…reasons.

Zaira looks up at me questioningly. "What do you mean?" She sounds confused.

"What are you wearing?"

She trades strange looks with Ashley. "It's self-contained life preservation suit, standard-issue for Alliance personnel. If our hardsuit is breached in toxic environments, the suit keeps it out."

Well, I guess that makes sense. How did I not see this before? "Do you not have one of these?" Zaira asks.

I shake my head. "Nope," I reply, nudging my folded-up suit with my foot. It stands and unfolds, holding the arms out as the plates open. I step inside and the plates close and lock, sealing me inside. "I'm always wearing regular clothes inside of this."

Well, except for those four weeks where I was naked, but let's not mention that.

My blue-haired commander shakes her head, pulling on her hardsuit. "First a lightsaber, and now that? So unfair."

She calls it a lightsaber too? "You know Star Wars?"

The looks she gives me is so incredulous, you don't even know. "Of course I do, are you crazy?"

Man, this woman is awesome.

Focus! Therum: Geth Armatures, regular troopers and rocket troopers, plus those little springy bastards and a Colossus…we have to face on foot. Great.

So I grab Medusa and a shotgun with Carnage module, set Invictus on my thigh, attach my knife to my back and my lightsaber to my hip and set my launchers to Concussive Missile.

Ready to go. Except for one thing…

"Shotgun!" I call, opening the Mako and climbing up into the turret, distantly hearing Ashley go 'Fuck!' outside.

The ladies climb in and seal the door as the _Normandy_ starts to shake from entering Therum's atmosphere. _"Twenty seconds to drop!"_ Joker's voice says over the PA.

I check the turret controls, turning the gun around and checking my ammo. All full up, good. The door cracks open, showing the molten lakes and black, cracked earth of Therum.

The Mako slides forward before Zaira guns it, throwing us out of the ship and into free-fall. I won't lie, I may have cheered.

"Woo! Treads first into Hell!"

Karma immediately strikes when Shepard fires the retrorockets without warning, my head whipping down to bounce off the console with a loud clang.

"You may want to hang on!" She calls back jokingly, that saucy wench.

"Yeah, I got that, thanks!"

The wingless-wasp-like body of a Geth drop ship rumbles overhead, 'coincidentally' heading in the same direction our objective lays. "Well, there's the Geth presence." I say over the radio.

The thick tires of the Mako churn and a plume of ash rises behind as Zaira drives us, navigating through slowly bubbling pools of molten rock on what most would qualify as a living Hell.

Another drop ship buzzes by, and this one leaves behind a few presents, just for us. How generous of the murderous robots.

"Multiple Geth signatures!" Tali warns.

I turn the turret on the first Armature and open fire. And I'm somewhat disappointed. The gun is effective, and I can see the enemy shields dropping as multiple bullets tear into their hulls…but it's about as satisfying as blowing a really long, really wet raspberry.

But the cannon…daddy likes. The loud bark followed by an explosion, watching bits and pieces of those former enemies flying through the air…it's just really fun.

And it's an odd contrast with gun.

_Pbbbbbbbt._

_P-kow!_

_Pbbbbbbbt._

_P-kow!_

Basically that. Shepard drives us over the surface with me unloading the turret on anything grey and shooting at us.

Our path to the lady doctor is blocked by a wall of grey metal, a former outpost taken over by the Geth, complete with hacked rocket turrets that open fire on us within seconds.

"There's a path to the right!" I call out over the radio.

The Mako swerves as two rockets impact into the side and we drive for the side path, coming to another grey metal wall. "We'll probably find Geth inside," Zaira warns. "And we need to go through this checkpoint to reach the doctor."

Ashley pops open the hatch and steps out onto the blackened earth, approaching the door on foot to access the lock. "Door's opening!"

The door does, in fact, open and I hold down the trigger as Shepard hits the gas, speeding through the doorway and crushing a few squealing robots under her treads.

The rapid fire of the gun makes short work of the approaching Geth, the high rate of fire chewing through their shields and bodies with ease.

A large red one steps out and fires off a Carnage round; Zaira whips the Mako around, dodging the shot and I take aim at it's legs, tearing them to shreds and dropping the body to the dirt.

Shepard stops near the crawling robot. "Tali, you're up!"

"On it!" The young quarian responds, quickly hopping out of Mako and approaching the downed Geth, whipping out the silver knife from her boot and stabs it in the back, pulling up and revealing a white glowing data center. She opens her omni-tool, fingers flying over the holographic interface. "Alright, I've got something!"

We pull up to the other door and Ashley heads inside to open it up. Her assault rifle barks inside and after a few more seconds, the door opens and she jumps back in the Mako with Tali.

"What did you find?" Zaira asks, driving over the narrow paths between lava lakes.

"The Geth are searching for Dr. T'Soni, just like us. They're trying to capture her." She explains. "Which means that she's not working for Saren."

"This just became a rescue mission." Shepard announces as the Mako jerks forward, picking up speed.

A few more Armatures bar our path, but they fall with some well-placed cannon shots. As we approach the final stretch, a larger form unfolds, this one colored off-white.

"Colossus!"

Shepard fish-tails as an explosive blast of plasma detonates near the rear wheels. I do my best to keep the turret trained on the Colossus, but it's not exactly easy and the neither of the weapons seems to be doing shit to its' shields.

"Alright, enough of this!" Zaira says angrily as we complete another circle around the big Geth, with the shields drained to about half. She guns the Mako straight at the Colossus, driving under a plasma shot. I point the turret up as we pass under the legs and it stabs deep into the body with a sharp plastic squeal.

Zaira's driving us somewhere, and I'm just holding down the trigger, firing off hundreds of rounds straight into the Colossus's insides.

The Mako pulls to a sudden stop, the inertia throwing the Colossus from the turret, straight into a lake of molten rock.

Acrid black smoke rises into the air as the lave melts through the Geth's armor and fries the electronics, consuming the whole body within seconds.

I sigh and let the trigger go, letting the gun cool. "That guy was a dick."

A few Geth troopers meet us in the tunnel, but I don't even to bother, Zaira just drives right over them.

Exiting the tunnel, we come to a wall of rock with a man-sized gap in the face and we pile out of the Mako. "Looks like we're on foot from here." Ashley comments.

"Joker will come by to secure the Mako. We're moving in." Zaira orders, stepping through the gap first with the Gunny right behind her.

The weight of Invictus is heavy and comfortable in my hand, and the first trooper's head pops in a spray of white fluid and broken ceramics under the heavy shot.

As we move through the area, Jade's voice speaks in my ear. _"Saul, my program is ready. Just point and I'll do the rest."_

"Gotcha." Lifting my hand, I point at a nearby Geth Trooper and my omni-tool flares, a film of green light passing over it.

The trooper jerks as if shot and the light that serves as the face blinks rapidly, before finally settling on green. As it does, the platform spins on its' heel and unloads into the backs of its' former comrades.

Zaira shoots me a look through her helmet and I nod to confirm. We step forward, and the Geth Jade's controlling explodes and a shot ricochets off Tali's shield.

"Jade!" I can't help but cry, ducking behind a nearby rock and pulling Tali back to her feet.

"_I'm fine!"_ She replies, and relief floods my body. _"The program managed to sneak through my firewall and activate the body's self-destruct. At least I know that Geth are sneaky."_

Thunder cracks twice as Zaira and Ashley pick off a pair of Geth snipers and we move through what was once a camp for the archeologists, though it's now empty of all life.

Well, that means they won't need the, admittedly crappy, armor and weapons that are just sitting out in the open, behind a locked door and a code-locked locker. None of it compares to the stuff we have now, which was kind of my point when I bought most of it, and it gets goo'd.

Plus, I find some credits, which is nice.

The entrance to the mine is empty and quiet, a definite sign of an ambush waiting to happen. Something burbles and squeals, leaping around the area quickly.

Tali snaps her shotgun up as it leaps again, blowing it out of the air, and the frog-like Geth hits the ground with a sad thump. "Nice shot." Ashley compliments, nudging the body with her foot.

Another freaking dropship buzzes overhead, dropping an Armature right in front of us, and I have fucking had it with those damn things.

As it unfolds, I boost into the air and call on my biotics, drawing my arm back and focusing the energy in the palm of my hand, throwing it forward and unleashing the Strike.

It impacts and explodes, sending the Armature stumbling back, smoking and near dead.

Ashley leans out of cover with her shotgun whining and releases a Carnage Round right to the stumbling Geth's face, blowing it to pieces.

The Geth freezes for a second, before going boneless and collapsing in heap. "Nice shot," I say, landing next to them at the entrance of the mine.

Ashley nods and the doors cycle allowing us to descend into the mine. A few measly Geth and Geth drones stand between us and our target, and they don't last long. Looking down into the mine, the first thing we see is a wide door covered by a wide, glowing shield, joined by a feminine voice calling for help. "Hello? Is someone there? Please, I need help!"

The elevator is damaged and would probably collapse underneath us, so we slide over the railing and land on the next level, then take a few steps and come to the view of Liara suspended in bubble, floating three feet off the floor.

"Oh, thank the Goddess." She sighs in relief. "You aren't Geth."

Zaira steps forward. "Dr. T'Soni? I'm Commander Shepard, Citadel Spectre. I need to ask you a few questions about Matriarch Benezia."

She blinks and looks at Shepard strangely. "My mother? I haven't spoken to her years. What does she have to do with the Geth?"

I wave. "That's what we're trying to find out. Hey, Liara. Been awhile."

"Er, do I know you?" Liara asks, somewhat nervously.

"I landed on top of your car."

"Oh! Mr. Dewitt! What are you doing here?"

Ashley throws her hands up. "Seriously, Dewitt, is there anyone that you don't know?"

I shrug easily. "I get around, what can I say? And as for what I'm doing here, I'm with Shepard. Do you know how to get out of there?"

Liara shakes her head, or at least tries. "I ran in here to escaped the Geth, and I must've accidently activated something. There's no way to deactivate it from here, and the barrier seems to be impenetrable. That Krogan with the Geth couldn't get through and he left a little while ago."

While Zaira talks to her, I examine the barrier. It's emitted from the doorway, and the emitters have to be connected to a power source, and that should run somewhere along the edge of the door. And the barrier itself may be impenetrable, but the rock around it is not.

With that done, I pull out my lightsaber and activate it, preparing to plunge it into the rock. "What are you doing?" Liara calls worriedly.

"Well, I figure that the emitters are located in the doorway and the power source should be connecting to them through the wall, so I'll just cut around the door and sever the power line." I explain, stabbing the blade into the wall, slowly moving it along the edge of the door.

"Be careful!" She says.

Following the door requires me to hover with my jetpack, and halfway through the top, the barrier sputters and dies. "Once again, I have the master-key, baby."

Liara is still in her bubble prison, so I approach the nearby console and tap the button that looks like a 'release' button, and holy shit, it works, dropping her to the floor.

"Thank you for freeing me," She says gratefully. "I was afraid I'd be stuck in there forever."

"That barrier technology could be useful," Ashley notes.

I nod and reply, "I'll rip what I can and plant a mine. Don't want to give the enemy an advantage." And by 'I' I mean Jade, who understands and gets to work while I plant a pair of proximity mines under the console. A nice little surprise for the Krogan.

Once I'm finished, I activate the mines and step away. "Let's get out of here." Shepard says, pointing up at the walkway above us.

She, Ashley and Tali quickly jet up and I'm proud to say there was only some slight stumbling.

I wrap my arm around Liara's shoulders and jump up with them, ignoring the surprised squeal in my ear and set the Asari scientist down. We run for the exit, and as we approach it, a muffled explosion reaches our ears.

Booyah, motherfucker.

"Joker, get us out of here!" Zaira orders.

"_Already here, boss! Hop on board."_

…

…

…

**A/N: First mission complete, ladies and gentlemen. Aw yeah.**

**Something I've noticed in reviews, recent ones, is that most everyone expects Zaira to react with violence, whether it's an AI or strange bedfellows, and I find that both disconcerting and ridiculous at the same time.**

**Have I portrayed her as anything but rational, except for when it comes to weapons and gadgets?**

**I think it's a negative effect from Anime oversaturation. Everyone expects females to react to almost everything with inordinate amounts of violence, and that's fucking stupid. Those people would be sectioned; or arrested and then sectioned.**

**One of the reasons I don't really like anime. That and perverts, and how they seem to be the go-to "hero", sarcastic quotes, of these years.**

**Why do people like perverts? I, personally, fucking hate perverts, and moreso people who peek on unaware people for sexual gratification. As someone who's suffered from Paranoid Depression, privacy is super-important to me and the people who violate it, willingly, for 'good times' are going to be hurt. Badly.**

**I can stand Kakashi, who just reads porn in public, and maybe Jiraiya, but he's pushing it.**

**However, Issei from Highschool DxD is just not someone I can like, ever, at all, end of story. So many reasons, but I don't want to go into it. I'm already kind of pissed just thinking about it and I'm injured; no need to accentuate both.**

**One of the ways to tell when I'm angry: long words. I've had a huge vocabulary since I was kid, and I tend to use the more complicated stuff when I'm properly enraged. For some reason.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Read, Review and Enjoy.**

**Stay Awesome.**

**~Soleneus**

**P.S.: To settle some worries, Saul is still a man-whore.**

**Also, I would commission someone to draw a picture for this or do one myself except for two factors: One, I'm poor. Two, I suck at drawing. Yeah, my creativity is pretty much limited to writing and cooking.**

**Ah well.**

**Stay Awesome Some More.**

**~still Soleneus**


	10. There Are Three Doctors on the Ship

With myself, Zaira, Tara, Ashley, Kaidan, Garrus, Nihlus, Tali, Wrex and now Liara, the comm./briefing room feels mighty crowded. The seats are full to the point that Wrex, Garrus and myself are leaning against the walls while everyone except Shepard is sitting.

"_Well, Commander, if every mission is that simple, we'll be done in no time." _Joker comments over the PA. _"Wouldn't say no to some prettier places, though. Maybe places that aren't what an actual Hell would look like?"_

"You and me both, Joker." I say dryly.

"Thank you for saving me." Liara says gratefully. "I shudder to think about what the Geth wanted with me."

Zaira nods and speaks. "It's not a problem. Are you sure you don't know what your mother is doing, working with Saren?"

The young Asari shakes her head regretfully. "I'm sorry, but no. As I said before, I haven't spoken with my mother in years. I'm afraid I don't know what she's doing with a renegade Spectre."

"Saren mentioned something called, 'The Conduit'." Nihlus speaks up from his chair. "Does that sound like something you recognize?"

She shifts in her seat and thinks back. "I recognize that term, actually, although all I know is that it is somehow linked to the extinction of the Protheans. You see, I have this theory that the Protheans weren't the first to inhabit our galaxy. I've found evidence, minimal though it may be, that there has been some sort of cycle, endlessly repeating."

This makes everyone perk up in confusion and skepticism. "Why haven't you brought this theory forward?" Shepard asks, brows furrowed in question. "Surely someone would want to hear this?"

I resist the urge to say, 'Her name's not Shirley', as I doubt anyone would get the reference and it would probably being an annoying interruption. Only half of the question, anyway.

"Well, it's sort of embarrassing to admit, but I'm only a hundred and six." Liara admits, her cheeks darkening slightly. "Barely a child by Asari standards."

That's an exaggeration, and I would know. I think it may be more of who Liara might view herself, but psychoanalysis isn't my thing.

"I cannot prove my theory, but I know I am right," The young Asari states after Ashley's outburst. "The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down; and only ruins remain. The Protheans began on a single planet and their empire spanned the entire galaxy, yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before."

"Is that what we're going to be calling them, then?" I interject, drawing strange looks. "The Ones Who Came Before. It's a little long for a title, though. Maybe 'the Precursors' or 'the Forerunners'."

Tara gives me a narrow look, a small smile playing about her lips. "I don't know about 'Precursors'. If the Protheans didn't build the Mass Relays or the Citadel or based it off of something else left behind by their predecessors, then they should be called 'Forerunners'."

"Because they left behind large mysterious space stations?" I ask.

She nods, smile growing. "Exactly."

Well, someone's a Halo fan.

"Ahem." Shepard clears her throat, giving both of us an amused look. "If you two are done?"

Liara, taken off-guard by the sudden interruption and seeming a little put-out, continues. "The Protheans suffered the same fate as the others, disappearing from the Galaxy and leaving behind very little, as if something tried to eliminate their presence."

Shepard leans forward. "I know what. A race of sentient machines called the Reapers."

Liara looks at the Commander, surprise plain on her face. "The-the Reapers?" She parrots, "But, I've never heard of-how do you know this, what evidence do you have?"

I think I see a small smirk on Zaira's lips. I believe she might be enjoying seeing the young Asari flabbergasted, as she's been a bit condescending. "There was a damaged Prothean Beacon on Eden Prime," She relays easily. "It burned a vision into my mind, and I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

"Visions?" Liara repeats again, an awestruck look on her face. "Yes, that makes sense! The Beacons were designed to transmit data directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare. No wonder the Geth attacked Eden Prime; a chance to acquire a Beacon, even a badly damaged one, would be worth almost any risk."

Especially for robots.

"But the Beacons were only programmed to interact with Prothean physiology. Whatever information you received would be confusing and unclear." The scientist turns her awed gaze to Zaira, who's walked over to stand in front of her as she babbles. "I am amazed you were able to make sense of it at all! A lesser mind would have been destroyed by the process. You must be remarkably strong-willed, Commander."

The last part is said in a breathy tone, and I think by that and the look she's giving Zaira, it was meant as flirting.

That's a little concerning for me. Is Zaira a lesbian? I think not, and I hope not, I mean, I really like her. It wouldn't crush me per se, but it would be disheartening. And it's not like I wouldn't accept it if she was, it would…just suck.

Zaira catches the tone and the intent behind it, and her faces screws up awkwardly. And my concern is alleviated. That's the kind of look you get when you get hit on by someone you're not attracted to. I make it when I get hit on by guys, and she making it while getting hit on by a chick. Score. Sorry Liara.

The awkward silence is stretching just a bit, so I clip it short so we can move on. "That's all well and good, but I don't see how this can help us find Saren or the Conduit."

Liara snaps away from her gaze. "Of course, you're right." She says, "I'm sorry, my scientific curiosity got the better of me."

Riight. At least half, anyway.

"Unfortunately, I do not have any information that could help you find the Conduit, or Saren." She relays, looking somewhat ashamed by the admission.

Shepard nods, having expected this. "Well, I don't know why Saren wanted you gone, but it would probably be safer for you if you stayed here."

Liara smiles and stands, approaching Zaira. "Thank you, Commander. Saren might come after me again, and I cannot think of any where safer then here, on your ship."

'Scientific interest' my glowing green AI.

"And my knowledge of the Protheans might be useful later on."

Wrex chimes in. "And her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts."

It's not as if he's wrong. You can never have too many Biotics on your side.

"Welcome aboard the _Normandy,_ Dr. T'Soni."

Liara nods happily. "Thank you, Commander, I am very gratef-"

She groans in discomfort and sways on her feet. "I'm afraid I'm feeling a bit light-headed."

Kaidan frowns in concern. "When was the last time you ate? Or slept?" Then, without waiting for the answer, he immediately follows up. "Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you."

She turns a lidded look at Shepard. "It's probably mental exhaustion and mental shock at discovering the Protheans true fate. I need some time to process all this. Still, it could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional. It will give me the chance to…think things over. Are we finished here, Commander?"

It's kind of cute watching Liara trying to be all tough and stuff. I doubt it's all shock and exhaustion, she might have been locked in that sphere for a day or two.

"We can talk again after you've seen the Doctor." Shepard glances at the rest of us. "The rest of you, dismissed."

We file out as Joker's voice comes over the PA. _"Mission reports are filed, Commander. Want me to patch you through to the Council?"_

"Go ahead, Joker."

The door closes as Tevos' voice comes through, and I lean against the wall, waiting for the little meeting to end. Faintly, I can make out snippets of conversation through the door. Jade helpfully sets up subtitles in my HUD.

"_Or maybe we don't know her. We never thought she'd turn traitor."_

"_At least the mission was a success."_

"_Yes, though we will need to retake those ruins. It's a pity no more could be saved."_

"_Good job, Commander. Remember, we're all counting on you."_

It goes silent before the door opens and Zaira steps out, eyes fixed on her omni-tool, and she doesn't even see me before walking away.

Perfect.

I slide in room and close the door, heading to the central terminal, quickly tapping in commands. The worm burrows, stretches and…bam.

Tevos flickers on, her orange hologram smiling warmly at me. _"Saul, I'm glad to see you are unharmed. And the information you recovered the Prothean terminal will be very helpful in the future. What has been decoded is very promising, including a energy shield that uses a quarter of the power modern shields and can run for several months at a time. Judging by the way it was used on Dr. T'Soni, the Protheans may have used it on very dangerous prisoners, perhaps starving them to death."_

"That's good." I say, nodding. "How long until any of this is field-ready?"

"_Months at least, years at most."_ She replies, shaking her head with a sigh. _"It needs to be decoded first and scanned for any malignant viruses, then we can move onto testing. I'm afraid none of it will available for use for awhile."_

Well, that's always a problem with ancient shit. Gotta know what it does, first of all. "I understand. How goes the operation on Eden Prime?"

Tevos smiles slightly, folding her hands in front of her. _"The Alliance is definitely grateful for the help, though they are suspicious. The colonists are more than happy to accept supplies. We haven't restarted the digging, however. I feel it would be in poor taste to begin so soon after an attack."_

I snort and chuckle a little. "True enough. Let me know if you find the Prothean or any tech you think could be useful."

"_I will."_

A couple of awkward seconds pass before I speak up again. "So, I suspect we'll be heading back to the Citadel, barring any sudden missions or whatever. Has there been any word from Feros or Noveria?"

Tevos regretfully shakes her head, letting out a sigh. _"Unfortunately, no. Feros has been out of contact for less than a week, which is normal with colonies several light-years away, given the distance and interruptions with modern communications. And Noveria is bogging our question down in red tape."_

"And we can't act before concerns are raised, because doing so would draw suspicion to us." I recite dully, the mantra feeling like dust passing through my lips. The fact that bad things are going down and we can't do anything without the threat of being found out and fucked over hanging is like a sword hanging over our heads.

It's necessary, but that doesn't make it fun. Eventually, we'll get to the point where all this 'sneaking around' shit will be unnecessary. Having an established timeline is good for planning, but it's restrictive as all hell at the worst times.

"_Yeah."_ I'm not the only one feeling the burn, but I have less experience with politics. _"So, will you have time to visit me?"_

I blink, drawn from my pity-party. "What kind of question is that? Of course I will. I'll make some if you do the same."

Tevos looks mock-affronted before smiling. _"As you said, of course I will. So, I should expect you in six hours?"_

I shrug. "Give or take. For me, it'll be a whole day. The whole 'relativity' thing is weird…fuckin' science, man."

…

"_Saul?"_

"Yeah?"

"_You trailed off."_

I come back and shake my head. "Sorry, just thinking about something."

Tevos' concerned look fades slightly, but she nods anyway. _"I should go. I'll see you soon."_

I wink at her and smile. "Looking forward to it."

The hologram flickers and fades away, leaving me with an empty room and swirling thoughts. "Hey Jade, can you open up a new folder for me? I got an idea for something."

…

Shepard tapped her foot in a bored manner as she waited for the elevator to descend. How could a galaxy as advanced as theirs have such a slow elevator system? Oh sure, shooting ships across the galaxy was no big deal, but an elevator that moves faster than dirt? Noo.

Zaira frowned. Talking to oneself was usually a sign of mental instability, one that she hadn't exhibited before.

She sighed and shook her head. In the end, there was only one person she could blame, like she had for most of the strange shit in her life: Saul.

Speaking of: The elevator doors slid open, admitting the Commander into the garage/cargo area. Garrus appeared to be calibrating the Mako, Ashley was doing something at her locker, shooting Saul strange looks every so often, and Saul…was messing with what looked like parts of a shotgun, occasionally looking off into space and giggling to himself. It was kind of creepy, but not the first time.

"You get used to it." Garrus announced, looking over his shoulder at Ashley. "Whenever he gets an idea, he always giggles while making it. And sometimes cackles, too. I'm not sure he knows that he does it."  
>Saul set down a piece and looked at the wall in front of him, eyes mildly glazed. And then he cackled evilly, a thin, unsettling smile splitting his lips and showing teeth that looked oddly sharp for a human mouth.<p>

Garrus pointed at the human male with a dry look. "See? I think he's envisioning what he'll do with whatever he's making."

Zaira shook her head and shook Saul's shoulder, gaining his attention. He glanced over at her, _that_ smile fading into a smaller, much warmer one. "Hey, Shepard. You need something?"

She twitched at the use of her last name and nodded. "Yeah. Remember how you said you owed me a favor?"

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Yeeees…" The man replied, drawing the word out. "I said that, like, two days ago. I haven't forgotten _that_ quickly."

She brushed off his sarcasm and continued. "Since you owe me one, I've been thinking about how you can pay me back. And I figured out how."

He waited for her to finish her sentence, and when she let it hang, he blinked slowly before taking a deep breath and heaving out the word, "Annnnd?"

"Sword fighting." Zaira let it drop, crossing her arms with a smirk.

Surprise crossed Saul's face for a second, before he grinned at her, his teeth looking completely normal. "You want me to teach you how to fight with a sword?"

She nodded once and he chuckled, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "I knew I would get a student eventually! Someone would recognize my skill and beg to learn at the feet of a master!"

Zaira tapped his arm. "I'm calling in a favor."

He gave her a thin look. "I'm fantasizing. Besides, you're calling in the favor I gave you to teach me something, and that favor is to teach you something for teaching me something without you having actually taught me yet."

"…What?"

Saul snorted, looking amused. Then he turned serious. "You know I don't actually have a 'style', right? Most of the stuff I do is made up on the spot."

"What, like the flips?" She asked.

He paused, looking off. "Disorienting tactic. Anyway, all I can really teach you is basic stuff and help you build off of that. Is that good?"

Zaira nods happily. "Yes it is. Speaking of 'building', what are you making?"

The raised eyebrow shouted amusement at her poor attempt at a segue. "I don't like to talk about the stuff I make unless it's actually viable, but, let's just say it could be very helpful. I'm having trouble with some of the technical shit, but I've never been good at that stuff anyway. If this does work and is actually usable, it could save a lot of lives."

Interested, she looked over the parts arrayed on the table. And then she frowned. "How could a bunch of shotgun parts save a lot of lives?"

He gave her a dead-pan. "Your informational probe has been deflected. And it's not just shotgun parts, it's what they could lead to. What I'm having trouble with right now is measuring the Kinetic Energy output; trying to figure how to…harness it, I guess. It's not easy to explain."

She nodded. "Alright. I'm going to speak to Tali, but it's almost dinnertime, by the way. And the shift change, too."

Saul glanced at her and nodded. "Okay. I'll be up soon."

…

Dinner is a pleasant affair. Kaidan had taken over for Joker so the bearded man could get some grub.

"Man, I'm glad we could get some real food." He says through a mouthful of chicken. "Nothing like a good meal at the end of the day."

I nod, toasting him with my glass of milk. "Glad you like it. If that grey crap is standard-issue, I'm glad I'm not in the Alliance."

Joker pauses in the middle of a bite and looks at me. "Did you make this?" He asks, gesturing with a chicken leg.

That question draws more attention to myself. "Yup. Surprised?"

Zaira furrows her eyebrows, looking at her plate. "Yeah, actually. It's really good."

I lean back in my chair with an eyebrow raised as more voices speak up in agreement. "Why is it surprising that I can cook?"

Tara wiggles her hand uncertainly. "You don't…really look like a cook."

"And you don't really look like a sniper." I reply. "I'm glad you think it's good, though. Always nice to hear."

"What's in it?" Zaira asks, indicating her plate.

"Chicken." Is my immediate, dry reply. "Simple stuff. Salt, pepper, a little garlic and some bacon grease from breakfast. Plus some potatoes. As I said, simple stuff. I call it 'Occam's Chef Knife': The simplest meals are usually the best ones."

Conversation dies as the meal is consumed and weariness becomes prevalent, even for those who didn't go down to Therum.

"So, boss, what's our next plan of action?" Tara asks, playing with her fork.

Shepard sighs and shrugs. "We don't have anything else to go on, as far as leads go. But, there are things we can do while wait; odd jobs, finding and following leads, maybe dealing with criminals the Citadel and the Alliance can't."

I clear my throat to interject. "We also need to stop by an empty but hospitable planet so I can train you guys up. Can't have you slamming yourselves against the ceiling and whatnot."

Zaira nods in agreement. "That too. Once we reach the Citadel, you'll have some free time to run around for a bit. And that's all I have to say. I'm going to finish my report and get to bed."

She pushes her seat away and takes her dishes up and most everyone follows, looking forward to some sack-time. I fix up a couple plates and bring them into the Med Bay, where Chakwas seems to be doing something at her terminal while Chloe is doing something with her omni-tool.

I don't take in details all that well when I'm tired, so sue me.

I do, however, notice Liara lying on one of the beds, passed out and snoring.

"Hey, ladies, I brought you dinner." I announce, passing the plates to grateful looks. "What's up Liara?"

Chloe mutters something before quickly blushing and swallowing. "Uhm, she was locked in that bubble for two days. She's suffering from a mild case of starvation, dehydration and a lack of sleep, but she'll be fine tomorrow."

I knew she was putting on a tough front, but I can't begrudge her that. "Well, she's a doctor with a pair of lovely doctors looking after her, I'd say she's in good hands."

The red-head blushes a little; she never could take a compliment without matching her hair; and the older of the two gives me an amused, if dry, look. "Flattery will get you nowhere, young man."

I draw back in mock offense. "Young man? You can't be an older than twenty, twenty-two tops."

Might as well be staring at a desert.

"Alright, I gotcha." I concede, raising my arms in surrender, "I can tell when I'm not wanted. Some people are so rude. You make them dinner and then you bring it to them and what do you get? Nothing but scorn and dirty looks."

"You'll also be getting a syringe full of anesthetic." Chakwas warns, holding the medical implement up threateningly. "I'll watch you flop across the floor and laugh."

Kitty has claws. No wait, 'cougar' has claws. I back out of the room, and right as the door closes, I fire my parting shot through. "Not very professional!"

It's not the best, but I'm tired dammit.

Most everyone's gone to bed or trotted off to do whatever they want, but a few are hanging around, eating or chatting. And since I'm kind of hiding the fact that Zaira and I are sleeping together, and her door is pretty easily seen, it takes time for it to be safe for me to stroll across the room and open her door, locking it behind me.

Zaira sits at her terminal, finishing off the mission report for her records. She looks up as I enter, her yellow eyes flickering in the light. She taps in a few more words and shuts off her terminal, moving to sit on her bed.

I lean against the desk. I feel like I should say something. But what?

Alliance underwear is meant to be both comfortable and functional, with little regards to appearance. Despite that, Zaira looks both cute and sexy, sitting on the edge of her bed with her hands in her lap, fidgeting with her fingers, her eyes flicking up to mine from underneath her bangs.

We sit in awkward silence for about a minute before Zaira slides over, patting the spot next to her on the bed. I strip off my shirt and slide under the covers next to her, our legs touching under the blankets.

Laying on our backs, side-to-side on a twin bed is not very comfortable. Part of my shoulder is hanging off of the side.

"I'll be the big spoon." I offer, rolling my head to look at her.

She thinks it over and nods, shifting on to her side as I do the same. There's still distance, however, about two inches of space between us.

I'm not going to be able to sleep like this.

I scoot forward, draping my arm over her stomach. I can feel her muscles tense as my skin brushes over hers, and she gasps as I slide my other arm under her neck and pull her close to me, her back ensconced by my front, my arms hugging her to my chest.

Her cobalt hair brushes my nose and I inhale her scent. Simultaneously somewhat flowery, with a sharp underlying tang of metal and light citrus.

"Good night, Zaira." I murmur, letting my eyes close.

I feel her hand slide down to mine and lace our fingers together. "'Night, Saul." I hear as the darkness of sleep grips my mind.

Her quiet breathing, her unique scent, her soft skin under and on top of my hand and the warmth radiating from her body; all these things I fall asleep with.

…

I dream of red. Red veined with blue. A stagnant puddle on a metal floor.

Then, metal. White, shining metal. Skeletal. An arm. Dropped in the puddle of red and blue.

Thin, blue, needle-like fingers descend, pulling the puddle up, over the metal arm.

It follows, meeting over the skeletal frame.

And then flesh races together, sealing the metal inside.

My arm twitches.

…

…

…

**A/N: Intentional Ambiguity~!**

**Yes, that was mysterious and creepy, and no, I'm not saying what it has do with anything! Suck it!**

…

**Ahem. Anyway: I've been kind of light on the action so far, mostly because it's been awhile since I played the first game and I need to look up a bunch of stuff, but it'll ramp up. I think I explained why the three big missions aren't all at the beginning, right?**

**In case I didn't, here's why: placing a timeline to follow, with side missions being in-between the main quests, thereby giving a logical reason for the **_**Normandy **_**to do any of the side missions instead of just doing the main things.**

**That wouldn't make a very long story.**

**Something I want to 'talk' about, though more of saying: Bisexuality. More to the point, Bisexuality as pertaining to women in fanfiction.**

**It's something I've noticed in a great many stories, typically harem stories, is that during a threesome or more, one woman is goin' at it with the guy (based on one guy-bunch of girls harem type) and one of the other ladies rolls up and starts making out with the former. She resists, or doesn't, and then even more sexy time.**

**But what I'm trying to say about this is: Are all women really bisexual? Most of what I've read in fanfiction suggests 'yes', but my common sense tells me 'not all of them'.**

**It feels like a cliché, and something I haven't seen in a story is the above situation, but instead of getting into it, despite whatever claims to heterosexuality the first claims, she instead pushes the other one away, saying something along the lines of, "I'm not into chicks!" or whatever.**

**I feel like I won't see that unless I write it myself.**

**And even pertaining to real life, my sister, a proud lesbian, has a name for people like that. She calls them "Spaghetti Girls/Women/Ladies" or whatevs. To quote, "They're called that because they're straight until you get 'em hot and wet."**

**And that's…'concerning' isn't the right word, but it's the closest I have.**

**Can a lady not just be straight?**

**Something to think about, I guess. I actually find it kind of a turn off in a story when the above happens. Here's a lady, presented as strong and knowing what she wants, and then another lady basically forces herself on her in a situation where defense isn't all that easy.**

**It feels kind of depowering to me.**

**But, what would I know? I'm a guy. I'm a straight guy and doing just fine with that, thank you. Women will always remain strange, beautiful creatures that I will just have to do my best to understand.**

**Ah well.**

…

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Why don't you leave a review on your way out?**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy.**

**Stay Awesome.**

**~Soleneus**

**P.S.: Maybe it's because saying 'All Women are Bi' is a generalization, and generalizations are for idiots who don't understand parts of real life? Maybe part of it is because, at heart, I'm a romantic? (Shut up, I am!)**

**Stay Awesome Some More. Fuckers.**

**~still Soleneus**


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